“Our job was to preserve the heritage of the city,” says Anna Maria. “When we realised that the city as we knew it was no more, we knew we had to preserve the memories of its people and the places that represented its culture.”
Anna Maria Beylunioğlu is a political scientist, a university lecturer, and founder of the online platform Nehna, Turkey’s only online platform that focuses on the Antiochian Orthodox community in Antakya, capital of the Hatay province, in south Turkey, near the Syrian border. Meaning “Us” in Arabic, Nehna was launched in 2021 by six intellectuals from the community with backgrounds in history, political science, law, journalism and civil society.
From its start, Nehna became a platform for the Antiochian Orthodox community to share their stories and preserve their cultural heritage. The initiative grew into an essential digital archive, drawing interest from within Turkey and abroad, then expanding its reach and content to cover other cultural and religious minorities in the region, highlighting the diversity of the region. It is now a fully-fledged organisation protecting cultural memory through storytelling, social media engagement, and academic projects.
Nehna’s work was interrupted in February 2023, when a devastating earthquake the region, killing nearly 60,000 people and displacing many more. Hatay was badly affected by the earthquake, which threatened to erase centuries of cultural heritage, traditions, and the memories of a community that has long struggled to preserve its unique identity.
“We were founded to document the past, but suddenly, we found ourselves in the middle of history,” says Anna. “The earthquake changed everything for us. We lost not only buildings, but entire neighbourhoods and people. It was up to us to collect people’s memories.”
The Hatay region is home to people of many different cultures, languages, and religions. Arabic is widely spoken in this area alongside Turkish, and many Sunni Muslims and Alawites live peacefully alongside Orthodox Christians. Over the decades, waves of displacement have shaped the city’s demographic and the Antiochian Orthodox community has learned to survive in fragments.
This was also the case of Nehna’s founders. The wanted to raise awareness of the Orthodox heritage of their city and serve as a space to connect its diaspora through the platform.
“We realised that so much of our history was undocumented,” says Anna. “We had a responsibility to tell our own story before it was forgotten.”
The earthquake’s destruction forced Nehna to rethink its mission. Recognising the risk of spatial memory loss in the city, with EED support, the team launched a Memory Map of Antakya, an interactive digital map that allows users to upload their own recollections and historical data about the city. The map has become both a tribute to what was lost and a way for the displaced community to stay connected to their hometown.
“In a city where even street names are changing, preserving spatial memory is an act of resistance,” says Evlin Huseyinoglu, a computer engineer, who joined the team after the 2023 earthquake. “People need a way to remember, even if they cannot return.”
“We collected stories from people who lived their entire lives in Antakya,” says Evlin. “For them, this isn’t just a digital tool; it’s a way to hold onto their identity. One contributor told me, ‘I may never walk these streets again, but at least I can see them on this map.’”
Beyond the memory map, Nehna has embarked on another ambitious endeavour: a collective digital book written by young volunteers from Antakya. Composed of nine articles, the book documents their firsthand experiences of the earthquake and the rebuilding efforts.
“We trained them in oral history methodology,” says Evlin. “They weren’t just collecting stories; they were documenting survival.” She relates that the book is an example of how Nehna bridges academic research with community activism.
“It’s not just about nostalgia,” Evlin adds. “It’s about actively shaping the narrative of our city’s history. If we don’t write it, someone else will. Some of our volunteers were interviewing their loved ones who'd spent their entire lives in Antakya, and who remembered all the places that are now gone. They cried, realising they would never see these places again. This project helps us understand how important it is to document our past before it disappears.”
The earthquake exacerbated long-standing migration patterns in Antakya, as hundreds of thousands of people are now displaced across Turkey, many of whom never considered leaving before. Now, there is a shortage of living spaces, and many schools and other public institutions remain closed.
For Nehna, this presented both a challenge and an opportunity. By focusing on digital preservation, they were able to reach Antiochians spread across the world. Social media became a crucial tool in maintaining cultural ties, with Nehna’s Instagram following surpassing 20,000, and its posts reaching millions each month.
“The people may be scattered, but our stories don’t have to be,” Evlin says. “We receive messages from Antiochians in Germany, the US, even Brazil, saying, ‘Thank you for keeping our culture alive.’ That’s why we do this.”
As Nehna continues to evolve, its founders face tough decisions about its next steps. One possibility is transitioning from an informal platform into a registered association—a move that could provide more opportunities but also poses bureaucratic challenges in Turkey’s shrinking civil space.
“It’s a big decision,” Anna acknowledges. “Operating as an independent platform gives us flexibility, but formalising our structure could ensure longevity. Whatever we decide, we will keep working, as there is a lot to do after the earthquake. EED’s support came at the most critical moment for us, right after the disaster, and it gave us more strength to go on and expand.”
The funding allowed Nehna to expand the memory map project and sustain its website – as well as navigate the NGO and social justice landscape in Turkey.
“EED connected us with experts who guided us through best practices in activism and preservation,” Evlin says. “They taught us how to structure our work for maximum impact.”
For Nehna, the next steps include the expansion of the memory map, additional oral history documentation, and linguistic research into Antakya’s distinct Arabic dialect.
“This is more than just nostalgia,” Evlin says, “It’s about ensuring that future generations know where we come from.”
“The earthquake took so much from us,” Anna concludes. “But it also gave us a new urgency. We’re not just documenting history—we’re making it.”
This article reflects the views of the grantees featured and does not necessarily represent the official opinion of the EED.
