Western Armenia

The distribution of Armenians in the early 17th century, a few decades after its conquest by the Ottomans, within the current borders of Turkey:^[1]

  Armenian majority

  Significant Armenian presence

History of Armenia
Etymology Timeline Traditional Urheimat
Prehistory Stone and Copper Age Shulaveri-Shomu culture c. 6500–3400 BCE Areni-1 Cave Complex Kura–Araxes culture c. 3400–2000 BCE Legend of Hayk (?) 2492 BCE Bronze and Iron Age Trialeti-Vanadzor c. 2200–1600 BCE Hayasa-Azzi c. 1500–1290 BCE Arme-Shupria c. 1300s–1190 BCE Mushki Ararat/Urartu Nairi Tribes 1114–860 BCE Kingdom of Van 860–590 BCE Scythian and Mede invasions 6th cen. BCE
Antiquity Achaemenid period Satrapy of Armina 549–331 BCE Orontid Dynasty Kingdom of Armenia Armenia Minor 331–72 BCE Kingdom of Armenia 321 BCE–428 CE Artaxiad dynasty 189 BCE–12 CE Empire 84–34 BCE Arsacid dynasty 52–428 CE Roman–Parthian War 58–63 CE Roman Province of Armenia 114–118 CE Christianization 301 CE Kingdom of Sophene c.200–94 BCE Kingdom of Commagene 163 BCE–72 CE Marzpanate period Byzantine Armenia 387–536 Persian Armenia 428–646 Mamikonian dynasty Battle of Avarayr 451 Muslim conquest of Armenia 645
Middle Ages Arabic period Emirate of Armenia 653–884 Hamamshen 700s–1300s Amatuni Dynasty Kingdom of Armenia Bagratid Armenia 884–1045 Bagratid dynasty 861–1118 Sajid dynasty 889–929 Kingdom of Vaspurakan 908–1021 Artsruni dynasty Sallarid dynasty 919–1062 Kingdom of Tashir-Dzoraget 979–1118 Kingdom of Syunik 987–1170 Kingdom of Artsakh 1000–1261 House of Hasan-Jalalyan Battle of Manzikert 1071 Cilician and Turko-Mongol Period Seljuk Empire 1071–1201 Kingdom of Georgia Georgian Armenia 1118–1466 Principality of Khachen 1261–15th cen. Mongol Empire & Ilkhanate Mongol Armenia 1236–1335 Turkomania 14th—15th cen. Timurid Empire 15th cen. Kingdom of Cilicia 1198–1375 Rubenid dynasty 1000–1261 Hethumid dynasty 1226–1373 Lusignan dynasty 1341–1375
Early modern age Perso-Ottoman period Safavid and Qajar rule 1502–1828 Five Melikdoms 15th cen.—1822 Shah Abbas I's deportation 1606 Russo-Persian War 1804–13 Treaty of Gulistan 1813 Russo-Persian War 1826–1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay 1828 Ottoman Empire 1548–1915 Armenian Millet Russo-Turkish War 1877–1878 Armenian Question Six Vilayets 1878 Hamidian massacres 1895–1896 Adana massacre 1909 Armenian Genocide 1909–1918 Confiscation of Armenian properties Russian period Russian rule 1828–1918 Armenian Oblast 1828–1840 Western Armenia 1915–1918 Caucasus Campaign 1914–1918 National Liberation Movement Armenakan 1885 S.D. Hunchakian Party 1887 ARF (Dashnaktsutyun) 1890
Modern age Independence First Republic of Armenia 1918–1920 War with Azerbaijan 1918–1920 War with Georgia 1918 Treaty of Sèvres 1920 Wilsonian Armenia 1920 War with Turkey 1920 Treaty of Alexandropol 1920 Soviet period Armenian S.S.R. 1920–1991 February Uprising 1921 Republic of Mountainous Armenia 1921 Treaty of Moscow 1921 Treaty of Kars 1921 Soviet Claims in Turkey 1945–1953 Nagorno-Karabakh A.O. 1923–1991 Diaspora Armenian diaspora Hidden Armenians Repatriation Contemporary Armenia Republic of Armenia since 1991 Post-Soviet transition 1991–1995 Modern era since 1995 Republic of Artsakh since 1994 Nagorno-Karabakh War 1989–1994
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Western Armenia (Western Armenian: Արեւմտեան Հայաստան, Arevmdian Hayasdan), located in Western Asia, is a term used to refer to eastern parts of Turkey (formerly the Ottoman Empire) that were part of the historical homeland of Armenians.^[2] Western Armenia, also referred to as Byzantine Armenia, emerged following the division of Greater Armenia between the Byzantine Empire (Western Armenia) and Sassanid Persia (Eastern Armenia) in 387 AD.

The area was conquered by the Ottomans in the 16th century during the Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–1555) against their Iranian Safavid arch-rivals. Being passed on from the former to the latter, Ottoman rule over the region became only decisive after the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1623–1639;^[3] the area then became known as Turkish Armenia or Ottoman Armenia. During the 19th century, the Russian Empire conquered all of Eastern Armenia from Iran,^[4] and also some parts of Turkish Armenia, such as Kars; the region's Armenian population was affected during the widespread massacres of Armenians in the 1890s.

The Armenians living in their ancestral lands were exterminated or deported by Turkish forces during the Armenian Genocide in 1915 and the following years; the systematic destruction of Armenian cultural heritage, which had endured over 4000 years,^[5][6] is considered an example of cultural genocide.^[7][8]

Only assimilated and crypto-Armenians live in the area today, and some irredentist Armenians claim it as part of United Armenia; the most notable political party with these views is the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

Etymology[edit]

In the Armenian language, there are several names for the region. Today, the most common is Arevmtyan Hayastan (Արևմտյան Հայաստան) in Eastern Armenian (mostly spoken in Armenia, Russia, Georgia, Iran) and Arevmdean Hayasdan (Արեւմտեան Հայաստան) in Western Armenian (spoken in the Diaspora: US, France, Lebanon, Syria, Argentina, etc.). Archaic names (used before the 1920s) include Tačkahayastan (Տաճկահայաստան) in Eastern and Daǰkahayasdan in Western Armenian; also used in the same period were T'urk'ahayastan (Թուրքահայաստան) or T'rk'ahayastan (Թրքահայաստան), both meaning Turkish Armenia.

In Turkish language, the literal translation of Western Armenia is Batı Ermenistan; the region is now considered to be eastern Anatolia (Doğu Anadolu), is one of the seven geographical regions of Turkey Throughout much of recorded history the eastern boundary of Anatolia was not considered to extend as far as the Araxes, the river which marks the present day boundary between the states of Armenia and Iran.^[9] Some Kurds refer to the southern parts of region as Bakurê Kurdistanê (Northern Kurdistan).

History[edit]

Ottoman conquest[edit]

After the Ottoman-Persian War (1623–1639), Western Armenia became decisively part of the Ottoman Empire.^[10] Since the Russo-Turkish War, 1828–1829, the term "Western Armenia" has referred to the Armenian-populated historical regions of the Ottoman Empire that remained under Ottoman rule after the eastern part of Armenia was ceded to the Russian Empire by the Qajar Persians following the outcome of the Russo-Persian War (1804–1813) and Russo-Persian War (1826–1828).^[11]

Western (Ottoman) Armenia consisted of six vilayets (vilâyat-ı sitte): the vilayets of Erzurum, Van, Bitlis, Diyarbekir, Kharput, and Sivas.^[12]

The fate of Western Armenia – commonly referred to as "The Armenian Question" – is considered a key issue in the modern history of the Armenian people.^[13]

World War I and later years[edit]

The treaties as summarized in 1923 by Ray Stannard Baker, who was Woodrow Wilson's press secretary during the Paris Peace Conference.

Armenian Genocide[edit]

In 1894–1896 and 1915 the Ottoman Empire perpetrated systematic massacres and forced deportations of Armenians^[14] resulting in the Armenian Genocide; the massive deportation and killings of Armenians began in the spring 1915. On 24 April 1915, Armenian intellectuals and community leaders were deported from Constantinople. Depending on the sources cited, about 1,500,000 Armenians were killed during this act.

Caucasus Campaign[edit]

During the Caucasus Campaign of World War I, the Russian Empire occupied most of the Armenian-populated regions of the Ottoman Empire. A temporary provincial government was established in occupied areas between 1915 and 1918.

The chaos caused by the Russian Revolution of 1917 put a stop to all Russian military operations and Russian forces began to conduct withdrawals; the first and second congresses of Western Armenians took place in Yerevan in 1917 and 1919.

Sazonov–Paléologue Agreement[edit]

The Sazonov–Paléologue Agreement of 26 April 1916 between Russian Foreign minister Sergey Sazonov and French ambassador to Russia Maurice Paléologue proposed to give Western Armenia to Russia in return for Russian assent to the Sykes–Picot agreement.^[15][16]

Current situation[edit]

Currently, Armenia does not have any territorial claims against Turkey, although one political party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, the largest Armenian party in the diaspora, claims the area given to the Republic of Armenia (1918–1920) by US President Woodrow Wilson's arbitral award as part of the Treaty of Sèvres in 1920, also known as Wilsonian Armenia.

Since 2000, an organizing committee of the congress of heirs of Western Armenians who survived the Armenian Genocide is active in diasporan communities.^[17]

Gallery[edit]

	Western Armenia the first half of the 18th century. Herman Moll's map,1736.	Armenia Turkomania on 1810 map.	Persis, Parthia, Armenia. Rest Fenner, published in 1835.	The Six Armenian vilayets (provinces) of the Ottoman Empire were defined as Western Armenia.
Armenian Genocide: map of massacre locations and deportation and extermination centers.	The area of Russian occupation of Western Armenia in summer 1916 (Russian map).	The area of Russian occupation of that region in summer 1916.	The modern concept of United Armenia as used by Woodrow Wilson and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun).

See also[edit]

• History of Armenia
• Geography of Armenia
• Armenian Highland
• Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
• Ottoman Armenian population

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Arman J. Kirakosian, "English Policy towards Western Armenia and Public Opinion in Great Britain (1890–1900)", Yerevan, 1981, 26 p. (in Armenian and Russian).
• Armen Ayvazyan, "Western Armenia vs Eastern Anatolia", Europe & Orient – n°4, 2007

External links[edit]

• Video: Provinces of Western Armenia
• Radio Television Western Armenia
• The Centennial of the Armenian Genocide