The earthquakes that occurred in 11 of our provinces on the morning of February 6 buried our hearts in pain and the tragic news from the earthquake provinces continues to cause great pain.

There is a place in them that has experienced the most destruction and death; the central district of Hatay, Antakya.

The Historical city was founded in the 4th century BC and was named Antiokheia where I have spent at least 2 months every year. Antakya’s friends embraced me so warmly that they used to say, "We will give you the title of honorary fellow townsman". I could take my friends from outside Antakya for a tour of the city and its surroundings as if I were a local resident.

Let me first introduce you to Antakya and the Antakya culture that has been evolved over thousands of years;

Both when you arrive and when you depart, they say “welcome” to you. What a lovely word to use in place of good-bye. They say "the jewel in the crown" to their guests, when you arrive, you are greeted at the doors and escorted to the parking lot to bid farewell. It is impossible to stay at the hotel, particularly if you are a guest from outside Antakya.

How challenging it was to persuade Hikmet to stay at the hotel. Nevertheless, due to the husband and wife's insistence, I stayed in their home for a few nights. Nesrin's delicious foam-free double-roasted coffee. Although the taste was hard at first, I could not drink any other coffee over time.

Their wedding ceremonies are famous. They sell what they have and make their wedding ceremony the best it can be. Almost half of the guests are from outside Antakya. All guests who came from outside the day before are given a meal in one of the most famous restaurants of the city, guests are entertained in the best hotels, and after the ceremony, they are taken to a well-known tray kebab shop in the city, where they eat lunch before being escorted to the airport. Again, after such a ceremony, I remember a friend of mine from Istanbul saying, "We ate so much that I could not eat for two days after I returned."

My port of call was Affan Coffee. Don't think of coffee or anything. "Haytalı" with ice cream is available for you to enjoy with your spouse while the Arabian Nightingale accompanying you at your table. You start to acclimate regularly.

To reach Samandağ from the mountain road, you stop at Fidanköy first. This small and lovely village with the world's hardest working people almost entirely supplies lemon, citrus, and olive seedlings to all of Turkey. Your friends there will never leave without offering you something (almost half the trees of my Sakarya garden came from Fidanköy).

As you make your way down from Batıayaz to Vakıflı village, you turn up the volume on the Feyruz disc player that your dear friend Sait has recorded for you and listen to Shadi. A song about a six-year-old boy who died in the Lebanese civil war. It is so sad that you turn your head toward the window to hide your tears. Everyone in the car is silent until the song ends because they are aware of your sensitivity.

You stop by Musa's tree on the way. You sip your coffee in the shade of a 1000-year-old plane tree with a trunk circumference of 35 meters, which is believed to be made of the staff of the Prophet Moses. The village of Vakıflı, which is entirely comprised of Armenians, is located a little below. In your church, you light candles and make wishes.

The beach at Samandağ will soon be visible. It is the second-longest beach in the world, stretching 18 kilometers. The Titus Tunnel can be found by turning right. When you make a right turn, the Titus Tunnel will be in front of you. It is the world's first tunnel of two thousand years in size that is 1400 meters long and was carved out of a mountain 130 meters in depth. A history of the sea lies here. I promised to come to the Vasi and conduct an interview with him.

The appetizers and desserts served in Antakya are not available anywhere else in the world. Antakya is a tourist attraction due to its Unesco designation as a gastronomic city and its 600 kinds of food.

On the morning of the earthquake, a single sentence came out of the mouths of our friends whom I had called but could reach very little: "Antakya is over". The unfortunate news spread quickly, and every morning I received reports of people's deaths.

Hatay Airport was unserviceable, transportation was only available by road through Belen. Even ambulances were unable to access the city due to the blocked traffic. There was an extreme shortage of food and shelter, hospitals had been destroyed, and first aid supplies were waiting in trucks on the highway.

Please visualize Antakya; It is a city built in the valley formed by the Amanos Mountains. There are only land and air connections. No rail connection.

What about sea connection?

So let's stop there. Antakya is connected to the Mediterranean Sea by the Asi River. In history, a small boat that entered from the Mediterranean could come to the center of Antakya, unload its cargo and return to the Mediterranean after receiving its new load. Later, for unknown reasons, the island where the ships docked in Antakya’s center was destroyed, and bridges were built across the river. Antakya was isolated from the sea.

I ask if this waterway had been open I wonder, would Antakya have received aid much more quickly after the earthquake?

We are not a country that learns from earthquakes, but I ask with all sincerity: Can't we revive this waterway with one in a thousand of this money amount instead of allocating a 50 billion dollar budget to Canal Istanbul?

Antakya was destroyed, its industry was lost. If we want to reclaim Antakya again, can't we create a new Venice in the Eastern Mediterranean by developing tourism on the Asi River between the Mediterranean and Antakya?

Can't our rivers, which cross earthquake zones just like the Sea Bridge, be used as waterways in the event of a disaster?

Antakya, which has been buried under the ground seven times in history, will be born again on these lands as much stronger this time. I never lost this faith after getting to know the people of from Antakya and I don't think they will either. For a new Antakya, we will always be with you.

I respectfully bow in front of those who lost their lives.

Levent Akson

Doğançay, March 01, 2023