"The richness of Adiyaman today is a result of the wealth left behind after the Armenians were exterminated. I realized this as a young man and have always fought against those who benefited as a result of such injustices," he told me.
Ten years ago actor Aram Kostanyan moved to Istanbul, leaving the familiar stage in Yerevan for a new one waiting in Turkey. He's been teaching Armenian kids acting and staging plays ever since.
"Oh yes, they ask us if we aren't ashamed to be living in Turkey. But why should we be embarrassed? Let the government of Armenia feel ashamed. Let the government do something positive so that people don't leave. Do you think it's a pleasure for us living with these Turks?"
“If there was work to be had in Armenia I wouldn’t have left. But I couldn’t even get a cleaning job back there. They just want young girls. I want to go back and plan to after saving up some money in Turkey,” Anzhela said.
These are the neigborhoods where Armenians historically plied their trade and crafts. They are long gone, only to be replaced by scores of newcomers from the Republic of Armenia.
Pakrat Estukyan, the Armenian edition editor at Agos weekly expressed the same thought, noting that at one time Armenians in Turkey constituted a nationality, a people, but that they had been reduced to a mere "community" today; and a religious one at that.
"You are of course aware that genocides can also be perpetrated by individuals and not by governments."
Restaurants are lined up along the undercarriage of the bridge. Here, passersby, especially tourists, will be coaxed and cajoled to come inside for a bit of fish and a drink.
25 year-old Ibrahim Yunal from Turkey will be visiting Armenia next month to shoot a film about Mt. Ararat. Born in the Cilician town of Tarsus, Ibrahim has been studying in Istanbul for the past five years. I caught up with him there.