Philately:

Hatay stamps

by Kaya DORSAN

When the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, the province of Hatay, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, was not within the borders of Turkey. After forming a small corner of Ottoman Empire for centuries, this territory had been occupied by France at the end of the First World War. For postal operations, first French occupation stamps and then Syrian stamps were used.

In 1930, Hatay was given autonomy under the name of "Sandjak d'Alexandrette" (Sanjak of Alexandretta). It was not an independent state, and remained under the control of French troops. Nevertheless, it would henceforth issue its own stamps. Between 1930 and 1939, Syrian stamps overprinted with the words “Sandjak d'Alexandrette” went on sale.

1938 and 1939 witnessed very important developments in Hatay. Elections were held, French troops left the country and the new parliament declared an independent State of Hatay. Naturally, new stamps were printed and put on sale. The first stamps of the new state were overprinted Turkish stamps. Later, the Hatay authorities produced original stamps of their own.

Hatay joins Turkey

However, these stamps were not used for very long. On June 23, 1939, the Parliament of Hatay decided on the annexation of Hatay to Turkey. To celebrate this decision, the current stamps were marked with a new overprint bearing June 30, 1939 as the annexation date. Less than a month later, on July 23, Hatay was officially added to the Turkish territories. Since then it has become one of the country’s provinces.

Hatay stamps can no longer be obtained from post offices. However, there are many philatelists trying to collect these short-lived stamps, and the envelopes on which they were used. These materials are very important documents with respect not only to the erstwhile small State of Hatay but also for the postal history of Turkey, Syria and France.

( DIPLOMAT  -  April 2006  -  Ankara )