On July 7 , 1939 , the Grand National Assembly of Turkey approved the law establishing the Hatay Province and incorporating districts from Adana Province ( then Seyhan Province ) and Gaziantep Province . By July 23 , 1939 , the last vestiges of the French Mandate authorities had left Antakya , and the territory was fully annexed to Turkey . The result was a flight of many Arabs and Armenians to Syria . The region 's Armenian population had particular reasons to be fearful , having been survivors of the Armenian Genocide and who had fled for their lives to the French Mandate of Syria and were now forced to leave again by the Turks . Following the annexation , almost the entire Armenian population of Hatay left the province and resided in Aleppo , with many others moving to Lebanon where they founded the modern town of Anjar near the ruins of its historic castle
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Hatay State