Saimbeyli is in the grips of a cultural revolution as its population comes to terms with its bloody past. The town was once only inhabited by Armenians, until a bloody massacre destroyed the Armenian population. The homes, churches, and businesses were left vacated, only to be inhabited by Turks. As the town attracts tourism, much of its history is still rarely discussed. 

MIssionary Rose Lambert eyewitnessed the massacres:

Widows and orphans by the hundreds came flocking back to Hadjin and the villages about us, from the plain, bereft of beloved ones, many of whom had been brutally massacred before their eyes. They were penniless, ragged, barefooted, sick, pale and almost beyond recognition, the mothers, wives, sisters and daughters of the three thousand Hadjin men who had been massacred on the plain.

Kaymakam Hkan Keskin continues to rebuild the Armenian castle of Hadjin (Saimbeyli) but is less likely to discuss its Armenian past. The issue of Armenian repatriation to Hadjin can only begin with just acknowledgment of the Armenian ethnos in Saimbeyli (Hacin).