On the two shores of the Aegean Sea, not far from one another, lie Ayvalık and Mytilene. The histories of these two cities changed radically in the early 20th century as a result of wars, displacement, and population exchange.

In Mytilene, the memory of those who migrated from Asia Minor remains visible in the city’s public spaces to this day. Monuments and street names commemorate people who lost their homeland, their migration, and their new lives on the island. The “Asia Minor Mother” monument is one of the important symbols of that memory.

In Ayvalık, the population exchange also transformed the city’s demographic and cultural landscape. A large Greek community had previously lived there, and the homes and churches they left behind were later taken over by other residents. However, rather than these changes, the themes of the national liberation struggle and military resistance are more prominently emphasized in the city’s public memory.

This history is also important from the perspective of studying the historical heritage of Western Armenia and Asia Minor as a whole. The wars and displacements of the early 20th century not only changed the demographic composition of the region but also left a profound mark on the cultural heritage of Armenian, Greek, and other indigenous communities.

The examples of Ayvalık and Mytilene demonstrate that different societies can remember the same historical rupture in different ways. In one place, it is preserved through monuments and stories of migration; in another, through the history of national struggle and statehood.

The study of historical memory, therefore, provides an opportunity to return to the past of Asia Minor, where numerous cities and settlements still bear traces of the former presence of Armenian, Greek, and other communities.