Sanjak of Alexandretta - 1938 Voter Registration and "elections"

1938 Voter Registration and "elections"

The allocation of seats in the sanjak assembly was based on the 1938 census held by the French authorities under international supervision: out of 40 seats, 22 were given to the Turks, nine for Alawi Arabs, five for Armenians, two for Sunni Arabs, and two for Christian Arabs. This repartition was the result of a Turkish military intervention from Payas and Hassa just beforehand, on July 5, 1938, with the ethnic cleansing of most of its Arab and Armenian inhabitants who constituted the majority of the population. Turkey had also crossed tens of thousands of Turks into the Sanjak of Alexandretta. Moreover, the results seemed to be questionable because it happened for the sole purpose of seat repartition, and Turkish propaganda was very active among Alevis and Circassians, all of whom were considered as Turks by Ankara.

According to the official registration numbers by July 22, 1938, 57,008 voters in the Sanjak were registered, belonging to the following ethnic groups.

• Turks: 35,847
• Alawitess: 11,319
• Armenians: 5,504
• Antiochian Greeks: 2,098
• Arabs (Sunni): 1,845
• "Others": 359

40 seats of the sanjak assembly per qadaa were distributed as follows:

• Antakya: 14 Turks, 7 Arab Alawis, 2 Armenians, 2 Sunni Arabs, 1 Arab Orthodox Christian
• İskenderun: 3 Turks, 2 Arab Alawis, 1 Armenian, 1 Arab Orthodox Christian
• Kırıkhan: 5 Turks, 2 Armenians
• Total: 22 Turks, 9 Arab Alawis, 5 Armenians, 2 Sunni Arabs, 2 Arab Orthodox Christians

Despite the voter registration, no elections were held and an "approved" sanjak assembly was commissioned by Turkish and French authorities. Tayfur Sökmen who was appointed by Atatürk to lead the transition arrived in Antakya from Dörtyol on August 25, 1938.