District İskenderun Time zone EET (UTC+2) Population 7,548 (2012) | Elevation 130 m (425 ft) Postal code 31241 Area code 0326 | |
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Bekbele is a town in İskenderun district of Hatay Province, Turkey. It is situated mostly to the east of Çukurova Motorway at 36°37′N 36°14′E. It is almost merged to İskenderun. The distance to Antakya (the administraticve center of the province) is about 80 kilometres (50 mi). The population of Bekbele was 7,548 as of 2012.The settlement was founded in by a tribe named Abacılı from Dulkadir territory (present Kahramanmaraş Province) of the Ottoman Empire towards the end of the 18th century. According to mayor's page, Abacılı which refers to manufacturing coarse woolen cloth was a subtribe of Bayat, a Turkmen tribe.
Map of Bekbele Mahallesi, Turkey
References
Bekbele Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA