The article examines the specifics of applying the concept of the Turkish Historical Thesis using the example of the idea of the Hatay Alawites belonging to the Turkish nation, which was constructed in the 1930s. The authors analyzed the texts of the works of the president of independent Hatay Tayfur Sökmen, the minister of education and health of Hatay Faik Türkmen, and the secretary general of the Turkish Language Association Hasan Reşit Tankut. In 1936, Hatay became the subject of a territorial dispute between the Turkish Republic and France. An important tool of Ankara in the diplomatic confrontation was the historical policy aimed at the inhabitants of this territory. Turkey sought to include the Alawites, one of the largest ethno-confessional groups in Hatay, in the Turkish national project in order to justify its territorial claims. Within the framework of the Turkish Historical Thesis, theories based on pseudo-scientific research were developed that were aimed at justifying the unity and common historical path of the Turks and the inhabitants of Hatay and eliminating existing conflicts in society. The main factor hindering the spread of Turkish nationalism in Hatay were the ethno-religious contradictions between the Alawites and Sunni Turks. In the analysis of the selected texts, four criteria were identified: anthropological, historical-geographical, linguistic and cultural-religious. Statements in each of the directions were fabricated on the basis of often unfounded, unverified or false information. The article examines the main arguments in favor of the theory of the kinship of the Alawites and the Turks.
Veronika Tsibenko (Thu,) studied this question.