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 ADANA, Atana, Seyhan, city in the Cilician Armenia, the administrative centre of Adana province (Turkey). Adana is situated in the Cilicia (Chukorova) valley, on the  Seyhan River. In the 12-14th century it became a part of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. At the beginning of the 16th century it fell under the rule of Turkey. In early 20s the population of Adana was around 45 thousand, 12600 of which were Armenians. 

The Armenians, who were under the Ottoman rule for 300 years were Turkish speaking. But many Armenian schools were opened and the Armenian language revived. Adana Armenians were engaged in crafts, trade and agriculture. They had churches and Armenian printing. In 1909 the Young Turks carried out the massacres of Adana Armenians. In 1915 there were no Armenians left in Adana, but after WWI, when Cilicia passed to France, the majority of Armenians returned. On August 4, 1920 the independence of Armenian Cilicia was declared by M. Tamatyan. However, it was of formal nature.   Soon the French military authorities handed Adana and the Armenian Cilicia over to Kemalist Turkey. The majority of the Armenians of Adana had to migrate to Syria, Lebanon, Greece and other countries. 

Source-Encyclopedia "The Armenian Question", Yerevan, 1996.