There are Armenians in Turkey who must not be scared and bravely return to their roots, said head of the Union of Armenians of Dersim Mihran Prkich Gultekin.

In an interview with the Turkish Akit newspaper, he said 75 percent of the population of Dersim has Armenian roots. Some of them are Alawite, while others have merged with the Kurds.

Speaking about opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Gultekin said that his mother was Armenian and it is not a secret for all the residents of this region.

“However, Kilicdaroglu prefers to hide his Armenian roots thus insulting his mother. The area where he lives is an Armenian settlement. In Dersim everyone knows about it. His mother’s name is Emosh, and she is also named Emush,” he said.

Gultekin said that he used to be a member of the Kurdish party HADEP, stressing that even today many Armenians join the Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party.

“The Kurdish party respects the Armenians realizing that had gone through a lot of sufferings.  But some Kurds have negative attitude towards the Armenians still calling them ‘gyavur’ [unafithful],” Gultekin concluded.