Hatay

Hatay is a province in the southeastern part of Mediterranean Turkey, bordering Syria.

• 36.202536.1605561 Antakya the provincial capital was Biblical Antioch, one of the first documented Christian communities.
• 36.58722236.1733332 Iskenderun is the largest city of the province and a major port.
• 36.84336.2243 Dörtyol is industrial.

The Dead Sea Fault Line runs from the Red Sea through the Dead Sea and Jordan valley to end near the northeastern tip of the Mediterranean, where it meets the East Anatolian Fault. The land west of it lies upon the African tectonic plate and east upon the Arabian plate: it's a "slip-strike" fault with both sides moving north, but the Arabian plate is overtaking by 5 mm a year. It's been active for some 50 million years, throwing up the mountain chain that sunders Hatay from the rest of Turkey, and its most recent major movement was in the earthquakes of February 2023. Hatay and adjoining parts of Southeast Anatolia were devastated and are still trying to recover.

The Ottomans captured the region in 1516 AD and it became part of their sprawling empire. From 1866 to the First World War it was governed within the vilayet - administrative region - of Aleppo, which also took in Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep and Urfa; so it had a large Syrian population as well as Turks and Armenians. The Ottoman Empire was carved up after the war and the region was allotted to French-controlled Syria, not to the new Republic of Turkey. But there was pressure from Turkey to cede the territory, which was worth little to France, and in 1938 it briefly became the State of Hatay - nominally independent but effectively under French and Turkish joint control. That name was coined by Kemal Atatürk and referred to the ancient Hittites who for centuries ruled the Anatolian heartland, to reinforce his narrative that it was naturally a part of Turkey. Following a rigged plebiscite in 1939, Hatay indeed became a province of Turkey. Syria gained independence from France in 1946 and to this day remains officially in denial about losing Hatay, with maps denoting some kind of "special administrative region", but there was never the sort of border nonsense that formerly affected travel in Kosovo / Serbia, Moldova / Transnistria or North / South Cyprus.

Most Armenians fled in 1939: their families had already suffered genocide by the Turks. The population is nowadays equally divided between ethnic Turks and Arabs. The latter's main groups are Sunni Muslims, Alawites and Eastern Orthodox Christians, with their numbers swelled by refugees from the wars in Syria. This means that local culture often feels Middle Eastern / Levantine, especially in its cuisine.

Governorship of Hatay posts local information, but only in Turkish.

Turkish is the dominant language throughout the province; locals often speak it with an accent. The Syrian dialect of Arabic is the native tongue for many, especially in the south.

Hatay Airport (HTY ^IATA) is 25 km north of Antakya and 45 km southeast of Iskenderun. It has daily flights from Istanbul (both IST and SAW) and from Ankara.

By road follow toll motorway O-53, which branches off O-52 the Adana-Gaziantep motorway. It's flanked by coast highway D817, non-toll but congested and industrial. These join south of Iskenderun to snake over Belen Pass to Antalya then the border with Syria.

Buses from Istanbul run via Adana to Iskenderun and Antakya. They no longer run from Beirut, Damascus or Aleppo.

Iskenderun port was wrecked in the 2023 earthquake and resumption of ferries is nowhere in sight. From Northern Cyprus sail to Mersin.

Trains to Iskenderun are suspended because of interminable track works around Adana.

Buses connect the towns but you need wheels for outlying sights.

In Antakya the main sights are Habib-i Nejjar Mosque, Necmi Asfuroğlu Archaeological Museum, and the Church of St Peter.

There and around the region the mosques had priority for rebuilding after the earthquake so many are in good condition, but others have been lost.

Iskenderun Naval Museum covers that city's maritime history and the incorporation of Hatay into Turkey.

Payas north of Iskenderun has a castle and 16th century caravanserai.

Beach: the best of this coastline starts south of Iskenderun at Arsuz and stretches to Çevlik. To the north is industrial.

Trad Turkish cuisine everywhere, but with more Arab influence: meze-style dishes such as humus are commoner here.

Künefe is a dessert made of shredded pastry with a layer of cheese inside. Enjoy while it's still hot and the cheese is gooey, washed down with tea.

Seek local advice on the status of tap water, as treatment plants and pipework were damaged in the earthquake.

Cafes serve alcohol.

The hotels described on the Antakya and Iskenderun pages have all resumed business after the earthquake.

Normal care over valuables and traffic.

The area has many refugees from the Syria conflict, with their misery compounded by the earthquake. Be careful where you go unaccompanied.

And don't lark about near the border, the guards will assume you're smuggling.

• Cilician Plains to the northwest are mostly industrial. Adana is a good stopover, its airbase means lots of decent hotels and other amenities.
• Southeastern Anatolia to the northeast suffered even worse in the earthquake but much has survived, such as the Roman mosaics at Gaziantep.
• Travel into Syria remains disrupted by interminable wars and civil strife. The road south leads to Latakia, Tartus and Beirut, the road east is for Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Damascus.