The 1938 Alexandretta Crisis That Lost Lebanon Its Coast

Long before Lebanon's civil war or the Green Line, the country lost its most valuable port. In 1938, the Sanjak of Alexandretta—today's İskenderun—was a flashpoint of imperial ambition, sectarian tension, and Great Power politics. Lucas and Luna explore how the region's Sunni Arab and Alawite populations were courted by Turkey's Kemalist government, how French High Commissioner Henri Gouraud's earlier decisions set the stage, and how the League of Nations brokered an 'internal autonomy' that became a Trojan horse for annexation. They examine the role of local strongman Tayfur Sökmen, the secret Franco-Turkish agreement of 1921, and the final plebiscite that stripped Lebanon of its northern coast, Antioch, and key trade routes. What did this loss mean for Lebanon's economy, its sectarian balance, and its sense of identity? This episode digs into a forgotten border war that still echoes in Turkish-Syrian tensions today.

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