er joint French and Turkish military supervision. The name "Hatay" itself was proposed by Atatürk, and the government was under Turkish control. The president TayfurSökmen was a member of Turkish parliament elected in 1935 (representingAntalya, and the prime minister Abdurrahman Melek was also elected to the Turkish parliament (representing Gaziantep) in 1939 while still holding the prime-ministerial post.
Hatay Province of Turkey
In 1939, following a popular referendum, Hatay became a Turkish province. This referendum has been labeled both "phoney" and "rigged", and a way for the French to let Turks take over the area, hoping that they would turn on Hitler. France eventually came to oppose Turkish control of Hatay. The French provided arms to groups opposed to Turkish control including Kurdish Hoybûn, Armenian Tashnak organizations, and Assyrians. They also tried to collaborate with Alawis and Circassians against Turks. On the other hand, the Turkish government, too, made efforts to collaborate with other ethnic groups, especially the Alawis, whom they considered part of the Turkish community in Hatay. Together with the Alawis, Turks constituted a majority of the population in Hatay. The Turkish government gained the support of the Alawis by arguing that their lives would be better in the Turkish Republic than in the French mandate of Syria. They promoted the example of Alawis living elsewehere in Turkey, especially in Adana. Turkish efforts to cooperate with Alawis bore fruit and some Alawis registered themselves as Turks for the elections. The Ankara government also collaborated with Circassians in Hatay, who were by then well integrated into Turkish society.
For the referendum, Turkey crossed tens of thousands of Turks into Alexandretta to vote. These were Turks born in Hatay who were now living elsewhere in Turkey. In two government communiqués in 1937 and 1938, the Turkish government asked all local government authorities to
