Çukurova (Cilicia in antiquity) is a loosely defined region in southern Turkey which covers most of the modern Turkish provinces of Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye, and Hatay.
[4] The French empire, which also ruled Syria, resettled 120,000 Armenians from Syria to Çukurova in an attempt to minimize the Turkish population, and the French army in Çukurova was supported by Armenian forces as well as a British Indian brigade.
After the organized struggle of Turkish nationalists, the French army lost control of the railroad from Central Anatolia to Yenice (railroad junction), and after the battle of Karboğazı on 28 May 1920, in which the last of French troops in the Toros Mountains surrendered to the Turks, the French policy was reshaped as to keep only the territory south of the Mersin–Osmaniye railroad.
The escapees also lacked adequate drinking water in the hot summer weather.
[2] In the Treaty of Ankara, signed on 20 October 1921, the French government agreed to return Çukurova, except for the territory of the Sanjak of Alexandretta, to Turkey.