Iskenderun (formerly Alexandretta, Tur. İskenderun, Greek Ἀλεξανδρέττα – lit. “Little Alexandria”) is a city and district in the province of Hatay in southern Turkey.
Population – 305 thousand inhabitants (2008), the largest city in the province.
A major port on the coast of the Iskenderun Gulf of the Mediterranean Sea. Ferrous metallurgy enterprises.
Iskenderun hosts the action of Steven Spielberg’s famous film “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, the Grail Temple was filmed in Petra, Jordan.

History
People have lived in these places since ancient times. The city was founded by Alexander the Great as Alexandria under Issus in IV BC. e. Subsequently, the city was part of different states; in the 16th century it became part of the Ottoman Empire.
At the end of the First World War, in accordance with the decisions of the San Remo conference, this territory came under French control. In accordance with the Franco-Turkish treaty on October 20, 1921, the Alexandretta Sanjak was allocated as a special autonomous administrative unit within the French mandate, since, in addition to Arabs and Armenians, a significant number of Turks lived in it. On September 7, 1938, in the north-west of Syria, on the territory of the Alexandretta Sanjak, the State of Hatay was formed, which was annexed by Turkey on June 29, 1939.

In November 1956, as a direct result of the Suez Crisis, Syria signed a treaty with the Soviet Union. This became a fulcrum for Soviet influence in the government in exchange for military equipment. Turkey was concerned about the increase in the power of the Syrian military, as it seemed possible that Syria would try to take back Iskenderun. Only a heated debate in the United Nations stopped the threat of war.