Vakıflı (, , official name: ''Vakıfköy'') is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of

Samandağ Samandağ, formerly known as Süveydiye (), is a municipality and district of Hatay Province, Turkey. Its area is 384 km2, and its population is 123,447 (2022). It lies at the mouth of the Asi River on the Mediterranean coast, near Turkey's ...

Hatay Province Hatay Province (, ) is the southernmost province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is , and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, along the eastern coast of the Levantine Sea. The province ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Its population is 103 (2022). It is the only remaining

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

village in

. Located on the slopes of

Musa Dagh Musa Dagh (; ; ; meaning "Moses Mountain") is a mountain in the Hatay Province of Turkey. In 1915, it was the location of a successful Armenian resistance to the Armenian genocide, an event that inspired Franz Werfel to write the novel '' The ...

in the

district of

, the village overlooks the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

and is within eyesight of the

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n border. It is home to a community of about 130 Turkish-Armenians. The local

Western Armenian Western Armenian ( ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based on the Yerevan Arme ...

dialect is highly divergent and cannot be fully understood by other Western Armenians.

History

The residents of Vakıflı are the descendants of those Armenians who resisted the Armenian genocide of 1915 on

. For 53 days they repelled attacks by Turkish troops until French sailors sighted a banner that the Armenians had tied to a tree on the mountain emblazoned with the words "Christians in Distress: Rescue".^{eak citation/sup>After being transported to Port Said

Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...
by the French, the inhabitants of seven Armenian villages returned to their homes while Hatay was under French occupation starting from 1918. Following an agreement between France

France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and Turkey

Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
and a controversial referendum

A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
, the district reverted to Turkey on 29 June 1939, a move still not recognized by Syria. After this move the populations of the other six Armenian villages emigrated out of Hatay settling in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley

The Beqaa Valley (, ; Bekaa, Biqâ, Becaa) is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon and its most important farming region. Industry, especially the country's agricultural industry, also flourishes in Beqaa. The region broadly corresponds to th ...
, especially Anjar, while the residents of Vakıflı chose to stay.

Vakıflı suffered from a lack of jobs until the mid-2000s, prompting the younger generation to move to Istanbul. An estimated 500 former residents of Vakıflı live in Istanbul, and the village population increases to around 300 during the summer as they visit. However, with the help of the district governor (kaymakam

Kaymakam, also known by #Names, many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been reta ...
) and the TEMA Foundation

The Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion (), better known in abbreviated form as TEMA, is a non-governmental organization (NGO) for reforestation and the protection of natural habitats in Turkey.
History
TEMA was founded in 1992 by Tur ...
, which identified ten villages and developed specific projects for each village to stop urban migration, Vakıflı was selected for development of organic farming and eco-tourism, and the village obtained the only EU organic farming certification in the region. In 2004, Vakıflı Village Cooperative exported organic oranges worth one million Euros, giving hope of economic viability to the village and prompting some villagers to move back from Istanbul.

Between 1994 and 1997, the village church was reconstructed and expanded with assistance from the Turkish government. In 2005, Vakıflı restored its old school building, turning it into a bed-and-breakfast

A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. In addition, a B&B sometimes has the hosts living in the house.

''Bed and breakfast'' is also used to ...
, with two more old houses being converted to bed-and-breakfasts. With the help of the local government and the Association for Development of Vakıflı, an Istanbul-based organization, a project for ecotourism

Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...
is being implemented that aims to restore the traditional stone houses of the village.

Vakıflı hosted 20 Syrian refugees of Armenian origin from Kesab

Kessab ( ; ), also spelled Kesab or Kasab, is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Latakia Governorate, located 59 kilometers north of Latakia. It is situated near the border with Turkey on the slope of Mount Aqraa, 800 me ...
during the Syrian civil war.

In February 2023, Vakıflı was heavily affected by the 2023 Hatay earthquake, with thirty of the village's 40 stone houses and the village church heavily damaged. However, no one died in the earthquake.

See also

* Armenian-Turkish relations
*Armenians in Turkey

Armenians in Turkey (; or , ), one of the indigenous peoples of Turkey, have an estimated population of 40,000 to 50,000 today, down from a population of over 2 million Armenians between the years 1914 and 1921. Today, the overwhelming majority ...

*The Forty Days of Musa Dagh

''The Forty Days of Musa Dagh'' () is a 1933 novel by Austrians, Austrian-Bohemian writer Franz Werfel based on events that took place in 1915, during the second year of the First World War and at the beginning of the Armenian genocide.

The nove ...

* Republic of Hatay
*Kesab

Kessab ( ; ), also spelled Kesab or Kasab, is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Latakia Governorate, located 59 kilometers north of Latakia. It is situated near the border with Turkey on the slope of Mount Aqraa, 800 me ...

*List of Armenian ethnic enclaves

This is a list of Armenian ethnic enclaves, containing cities, districts, and neighborhoods with predominantly Armenian population, or are associated with Armenian culture, either currently or historically. Most numbers are estimates by various o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vakifli, Samandag
Neighbourhoods in Samandağ District
Armenian communities in Turkey}