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HERITAGE
THE EXODUS
The Sanjak of Alexandretta/Iskenderun was an
autonomous province within Syria during the
interwar years. Its inhabitants included a significant
number of Armenian natives and refugees, among
them the indigenous population of Musa Dagh near
Antioch. A political crisis beginning in 1936 shook
Sanjak society to its core, as winds of change from a
French mandate to Turkish suzerainty increasingly
caused panic. The turmoil grew to alarming
proportions for the Arabs, Alawites, and Christians
when a farcical “election” in the summer of 1938
installed a Turkish majority in the Sanjak’s legislature.
A year later Turkey annexed the area. This was the
final straw that compelled the overwhelming
majority of Armenians, among other groups, to seek
refuge in other parts of Syria as well as Lebanon,
refusing to live under Turkish rule.
uring the period between the summer of 1938
and the summer of 1939, socioeconomic life
in Musa Dagh deteriorated rapidly. Exports
and imports from and into the Sanjak were
drastically reduced. Merchants conducting
business with Aleppo were obliged to
deposit with the Hatay government a sum
equal to the value of their merchandise as
collateral. After selling the goods the merchants
had to convert the Syrian lira into the
Turkish lira to be able to carry their money
back into the Sanjak. The merchants were able to
regain only 70 percent of the collateral they had deposited at the
time of export, that is to say, the government kept 30 percent as tax
on profits, in addition to customs fees. As a result, unemployment
in Musa Dagh rose to 90 percent. Construction was halted. Artisans
sold their merchandize for 25 percent less, and bought other necessities
for 25 percent more. Poverty and misery became rampant.
Beginning in late spring 1939, Turkish police posts were set up
in and near the Armenian villages. There was also an attempt to
establish Turkish Halkevleri (nationalistic people’s houses, i.e.,
clubs) with the help of Armenian collaborators, described as “paid
enthusiastic Kemalist propagandist agents.” They reported regularly
on compatriots who remained opposed to the emergent
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| THE ARMENIAN WEEKLY | APRIL 2013
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