Rebuilding Memory

Meeting at the Assembly Building

Yusuf Düzel

When a historic building returns, how much of the place we remember returns with it?

Meeting at the Assembly Building (Meclis)

Before the earthquake, I often sat near the assembly building, which we called the Meclis. “Let’s meet in front of the Meclis” was an ordinary way to arrange a meeting. I remember its years as a künefe restaurant and later its use as a culture and art centre. Meclis Künefe is documented in the building by November 2018; the restored cultural centre opened to the public on 23 July 2021 with an upstairs library. [2, 4] I remember a small museum display about Hatay joining the Republic of Turkey. We used to study in the library while I was still living in Antakya. These ordinary uses gave the building a place in my own life.

Returning to the damaged city

Returning to the Damaged City

The earthquakes of 6 February 2023 destroyed much of the assembly building. [3] On 14 September, I returned to central Antakya for the first time since the earthquake, after being displaced to Ankara. I had only been able to come back after months away. Seeing the Meclis, it felt as though the heart of the city was dead. The partly collapsed building seemed to sum up the city around it: rubble, destruction, and familiar places that were no longer whole. My photograph records what I encountered on that September visit, rather than the immediate aftermath of the earthquake.

Rebuilding a historic landmark

Rebuilding a Historic Landmark

The building’s history reaches beyond my own memories. It was used by the Hatay State assembly in 1938, before Hatay’s incorporation into Turkey in 1939. The district administration records the assembly’s first three meetings at this Köprübaşı building. [1] Its reconstruction therefore carries a connection to political history as well as everyday life in Antakya. I moved back to Hatay in September 2024. That month, I photographed a crane and rising reinforcement bars where the damaged building had stood. The photograph shows construction underway on 17 September; it does not establish when reconstruction first began.

The street around the building

The Street Around the Building

From Atatürk Caddesi, the assembly building appears as part of a larger damaged setting. I remember this as one of Antakya’s busiest streets. In this photograph, cars pass the construction site, while rubble lies beside a damaged building opposite it. Looking only at the assembly building would leave out the streets through which people reached it. Its importance as a meeting point also depended on those familiar routes. This view shows the surroundings that were part of everyday life around the Meclis.

The familiar shape returns

The Familiar Shape Returns

By December, the rounded frontage and columns were recognisable again, although the structure remained unfinished. A December 2023 report described specialists sorting and numbering recovered mosaics, tiles, ceiling elements, and window and door frames, with sound pieces intended for reuse. [3] Reconstruction therefore raises questions about both familiar appearance and surviving material. My photographs show the building taking shape, but they cannot establish how much original material was eventually reused. The return of its familiar outline is one part of the story, alongside the work of recovering what could be saved.

A place beside the river

A Place Beside the River

Another photograph from the same day shows the building across the river. Railings and the water occupy much of the foreground. This view records the relationship between the Meclis and its surroundings rather than isolating its façade. The place I remember includes the spaces around the building where people could pass, wait or meet. Keeping those surroundings in the photographic record helps explain why the rebuilding of one structure can matter to people’s sense of the city.

Work beyond the façade

Work Beyond the Façade

In May 2025, the rounded frontage had gained more of its recognisable detail. In front of it, machinery and mounds of earth and stone filled the area. This photograph shows that work extended beyond the assembly building itself. It also records an intermediate moment that a simple before-and-after comparison could miss. My photographs were taken months apart, so they form a personal record of visible change rather than a complete account of every construction stage. They preserve something of the time and work involved in rebuilding.

Feeling at home again

Feeling at Home Again

When I saw the rebuilt assembly building in April 2026, I had tears of happiness. By then I was already living in Hatay again. Seeing its familiar form return made me feel that hope was still there and life was coming back. In a way, it felt like going back in time. It felt like home again. My photographs preserve the damaged and unfinished stages alongside that moment of recognition. Together, they connect the rebuilt building to what happened here and to the everyday memories that made it meaningful before the earthquake.