Dilara Hamit
03 March 2020•Update: 03 March 2020
ANKARA
Tayfur Sokmen remains one of Turkey’s most important political figures to date.
He played a crucial role in securing the independence of Hatay from France. Subsequently, Hatay joined Turkey becoming its southernmost province, bordering Syria.
Sokmen led two movements for Hatay, located on a historical and strategic trade route.
At the end of World War I, France occupied the Sanjak of Alexandretta, the largest district of Hatay and an autonomous unit run by a military governor.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, had vowed to free Hatay from the colonial powers.
When Ottomans were defeated in World War I, Sokmen left his job in the Ottoman intelligence service and moved to Iskenderun, another name for Alexandretta.
Prior to this, he met Ataturk at a hotel in Aleppo, in present-day Syria, for the first time. He was told to work on reuniting Hatay with Turkey.
On Oct. 20, 1921, the Ankara agreement was signed between France and Turkey ending the Franco-Turkish War. As part of the deal, Alexandretta was given a special administrative status with Turkish as the official language.
When the French failed to abide by the agreement, Sokmen returned to Turkey.
He was sentenced to death in absentia by the French.
In mid-1922, he moved to Adana, a southern Turkish province, where he continued to stay in touch with like-minded people in Antakya and Iskenderun.
He was waiting for the French mandate of Syria to expire in 1935.
Meanwhile, the local Turks in Hatay initiated reforms in the style of Ataturk, and formed various organizations and institutions in order to promote the idea of union with Turkey.
After France gave independence to Syria and Lebanon in 1936, Ataturk started pushing for the independence of Alexandretta.
Ataturk’s government coined the name Hatay for Alexandretta and raised the issue in the League of Nations, the predecessor to UN.
On behalf of the league, representatives of France, the U.K., the Netherlands, Belgium and Turkey prepared a constitution for Alexandretta.
Based on an agreement reached in January 1937, Alexandretta was declared an autonomous territory dependent on Syria for foreign policy -- and linked to both France and Turkey for defense matters.
During elections which followed the deal, French propaganda irked Turkey. It was decided to reach a final solution through talks between Turkey and France.
On Sept. 2, 1938, the assembly is Alexandretta renamed itself as Hatay State with Sokmen as its first president.
The state lasted for one year under French and Turkish military supervision.
On June 23, 1939, Hatay reunited with Turkey.
Sokmen was elected a member of parliament from Antalya and Hatay provinces. He served the position until 1954.
He died on March 3, 1980.
