The ongoing identity debate divides the oppressed Alevi-Sunnite community, which is based on the slogan “Let us be together, let us be strong, let us be alive.”

There are at least four opposing views that have been debated. The proponents of the most radical Turkish nationalism, such as Halachoghlu, seek to prove that the Alevis of Dersim are “Kurdish Turkmen”, the representatives of the Armenian Patriarchate, led by Archbishop Aram Ateshyan, declare that they are “converted Armenians”, for the nationalist Kurds, the inhabitants of Dersim are part of the Kurdish nation that is struggling for its right to independence and autonomy. There is also the “Zaza” trend, as mentioned by Kharatyan in her article, which attributes ethnic and national traits to the Alevis of Dersim. In fact, none of these theses is sufficient to accurately study the history of Dersim. Over the centuries, Dersim has been an area of miscegenation, where the Alevi population was born, which is an original synthesis of various ethnic origins: Armenians, Iranian Dailamites, Kurds and Turkmen.