Dose anyone here know of a little place on earth called the Hatay Provence?

Question

Just in case you do not know

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatay_Province
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatay_Province#Turkish-Syrian_dispute_over_the_Hatay_Province

It is a place that has been in dispute between Syria and Turkey for the last 80 years. Yet never did Syria declare war against Turkey over it, nor did they break off diplomatic relations.

Some have even stated that Syria is now giving up its claims to Hatay.

I find the comparisons between Hatay and the Golan interesting, in particular how Syria has reacted to both in recent years.

Could it possibly be because Turkey is a Muslim state while Israel is a Jewish state? Maybe I am simply being pessimistic

Answer 1

I've never heard anything about this before, it's really interesting. Thanks for this post :)

Answer 2

Kind of a tough one to get. In one place it says:
There is a deep rooted disagreement between Turkey and Syria over the Hatay Province. Syrians hold the view that this land was illegally ceded to Turkey by France - the mandatory occupying power of the former Ottoman Turkish vilayet of Syria (between 1920 and 1946) - in the late 1930s. Syria still considers it integral Syrian territory. Syrians call this land Liwaaa aliskenderuna (لواء الاسكندرون) rather than the Turkish name of Hatay.

And in another place it says:
However, under the leadership of Syrian Presdident Bashar al Assad from 2000 onwards there was a lessening of tensions between Turkey and Syria over the Hatay issue. Indeed, in early 2005, when visits from Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Turkish prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan opened a way to discussions between two states, it was claimed that the Syrian government announced it had no claims to sovereignty concerning Hatay any more. To date, there has been no official announcement by the Syrians to suggest that Syria has relinquished its rights of sovereignty.

I guess never go by word of mouth and have everything written on paper? We'll have to wait for the official announcement I guess...Cheers!

Answer 3

Perhaps but i would more likely say that Hatay province and the Golan are treated differently because the Golan was taken during war while the whole hatay thing was under completely different circumstances.

And plus there is the fact that the golan was taken more recently, the loss of the golan (by military) and the bruised egos as a result of the syrians are still fresh like a few deades ago and with Hatay it is not the case.

Answer 4

I consider your question having more tilt towards politics than religion.

Better ask it in POLITICS section, not here please.

(( To err is human, anyways ))