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 / 36.617°N 36.233°E / 36.617; 36.233. 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 is 7412 as of 2011.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.