I came across an article in Hurriyet Daily News and I would like to get reader feedback on it.

The article, written by Vercihan Ziflioğlu, is entitled “Armenians snub mayor’s call for return”.

It deals with the September 25 statement of Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir in which he invited Armenians and other Non-Muslim people with roots in the area to return.

Here’s what Mayor Baydemir allegedly said:

“An Armenian, an Assyrian and a Chaldean, whose grandfathers or great-grandfathers were born in Diyarbakır, have the same right to live in Diyarbakır as I have, [speaking] as a Kurdish person who was born in Diyarbakır. I would like to invite all the ethnic groups whose ancestors once lived in Diyarbakır back to Diyarbakır again. Come back to your city,”

Baydemir made the call to Turkish and visiting Armenian journalists at a conference entitled “Expanding the Scope of Dialogue: Media and Armenia-Turkey Relations at the Current Stage”.

The article then provides quotes of various Armenians responding to the mayor’s statement. Here’s what they had to say. (Let us assume that the quotes are credible)

Ara Sarafian, Director of the Gomidas Institute in London - “ Baydemir’s call is not enough. And what is more, it could be manipulated by Turkish nationalists. As in most provinces, Armenians were also massacred in Diyarbakır. Why should they return to the city they left with great pain?”

Suzanne Khardalian (Stockholm-based film director whose family hails from Adiyaman and Marash) - I don’t believe it is a serious and sincere call. It has no meaning for us; no one could come back. What would we find out about ourselves if we returned? I would of course want to return to the land where my ancestors were born, but it is not possible under such conditions.”

Garo Yalick (Resident of France whose family has roots in Van and Mardin) - “They only remember to call on Armenians when they are faced with political problems. So I want to ask, why should we come back?”

Hakob Chakiryan (columnist for the newspaper Azg in Armenia) - "Diyarbakır is being introduced as the capital of North Kurdistan, while Osman Baydemir is regarded as the Kurdish Workers Party representative. Diyarbakir is a city associated with the Kurdish problem. It must be the last place to go in terms of Turkey-Armenia relations.”

So what are your thoughts? Here’s a few of my own to get the discussion rolling.

I get the sneaking feeling that the writer went out of her way to present the impression that Armenians have no intention to “return” to any part of western Armenia.

The fact that she managed to get the director of the Gomidas Institute to pose the question “Why should they return?” and a film director to comment “It has no meaning for us” leaves the impression that Armenians have turned the page on 1915 - the Genocide eviction and exile - and have moved on.

What about Chakiryan’s confusing response? Many Kurds regard Diyarbakır as the capital of north Kurdistan; so what? It’s also the site of the recently renovated Saint Giragos Church that officially reopened last year. Many Armenians, contrary to what Chakiryan believes, see the city as a potential site for an expanded Armenian cultural presence.

Of course, Osman Baydemir is a politician who probably does have ulterior motives, but why do these and other Armenians use it as an excuse for inaction and closing the door on any attempt to prove whether the mayor is sincere or not.

This isn’t the first time that Baydemir has made such calls. I don’t hear the mayors of Erzeroum, Elazig or Van urging Armenians to “come home”.

When Garo Yalick asks “Why should we come back?”, I can only assume that he and others like him would ask the same regarding the Republic of Armenia?

When Suzanne Khardalian states “I would like to return but it’s not possible under such conditions”, what conditions is she referring to?

Would she return if all the Kurds disappeared magically overnight? Would she return if the Republic of Armenia magically gained control of the lands promised by the Treaty of Sevres?

This is the same rational that many in the diaspora hid behind while at the same time spouting patriotic rhetoric about “Our Lands”. They’d all return if only....

The same excuses are used not only regarding their imagined western Armenia, but also regarding the present-day reality of the Republic of Armenia.

Unbelievably, there are still many so-called patriots who argue that the ROA isn’t their “homeland”.

Fine, to all those who claim this to be the case I would recommend that you contact Mayor Baydemir about his invitation to return to Diyarbakır; one of the six villayets of western Armenia.

That is if you are serious about returning to the lands of your ancestors...