Hatay in multi-party life period (1946-1960)

From the earliest times in history until today, Hatay has been a city which hosted great civilizations and in every age, it has attracted great attraction with its importance and social structure. The geographical location of city, being a bridge between Anatolia and Middle east and its multi religious social structure play a vital role in this. Hatay has gained its independence in 1938 and the following year joined the Turkish Republic as a result of outstanding efforts of Turkey and its diplomatic success. Hatay did not have many problems during the joining process thanks to its substructure which was constituted by enforcing the adjustment laws by its own parliament, while it was still an independent state. Hatay witnessed the second world war and the democratization process of Turkey within its own dynamics. In this study, all of these processes and the social and political events between 1939 and 1960 have been examined. In this regard, those who witnessed or knew the relevant period were interviewed and records of the Grand National Assembly Of Turkey, the archives, the national and local newspapers have been scanned. Moreover, the impacts of events in that period on Hatay have been interpreted. The study comprises of four sections. In the first section, Turkey's attempts of transition to a multi-party system, in the second section a brief history of the Hatay struggle, in the third section political and social events between 1939 and 1950 in the final section social and political events have been analyzed.