Western Armenia (for other name see below) is a term, primarily used by Armenians, to refer to Armenian-inhabited areas of the Armenian Highland that were part of the Ottoman Empire since 16th century and now are part of the Republic of Turkey.
After the Hamidian Massacres of 1894-1896 and the Armenian Genocide (1915-1923) the indigenous Armenian population was either massacred, escaped to Russia or deported to the Syrian Desert. Currently, mostly Kurds and Turks live in that area, with minorities being Azerbaijanis, Laz people (Muslim ethnic Gergians) and Hamshenis (Muslim ethnic Armenians).
Contents |
Turkish Armenia and Ottoman Armenia were used until 1920s.
The following table shows different names of the region used in Armenian during different time periods.
| Name | Phonetic pronunciation | Literally meaning | Dialect(s) | Orthography | Period of use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Արեւմտեան Հայաստան | Arevmdean Hayasdan | Western Armenia | Western | Traditional | mainly since after the collapse of Soviet Union; rarely used before 1990s |
| Արևմտյան Հայաստան | Arevmtyan Hayastan | Western Armenia | Eastern | Reformed | mainly since after the collapse of Soviet Union; rarely used before 1990s |
| Տաճկահայաստան | Tačkahayastan in Eastern Daǰkahayasdan in Western |
Turkish Armenia | Both | Both | mainly before 1920s; rarely used nowadays |
| Թուրքահայաստան Թրքահայաստան |
T'urk'ahayastan T'rk'ahayastan |
Turkish Armenia | Both | Both | mainly before 1920s; rarely used nowadays |
After Turkish-Persian wars of 1602-1639 Western Armenia became part of the Ottoman Empire.[1] 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.
Western (Ottoman) Armenia consisted of six vilayets (vilâyat-ı sitte) — the vilayets of Erzurum, Van, Bitlis, Diyarbekir, Kharput, and Sivas.[2]
During the collapse of Ottoman Empire Western Armenia remained under Turkish rule, and in 1894–96 and 1915 the Ottoman Empire perpetrated systematic massacres and forced deportations of Armenians[3] resulting in the Armenian Genocide.
The massive deportation and killings of Armenians began in the spring 1915. On April 24, 1915 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders were deported from Comstantinople.
During the Caucasus Campaign of the World War I, Russian Empire occupied most of the Armenian-populated regions of the Ottoman Empire. A temporary provincial government was established in occupied areas 1915–1918.
The chaos caused by the Russian Revolution of 1917 put a stop to all Russian military operations and the Russian forces began to conduct withdrawals.
The fate of Western Armenia — commonly referred to as "The Armenian Question" — is considered as a key issue in the modern history of the Armenian people.[4] The first and second congresses of Western Armenians took place in Yerevan in 1917 and 1919. Since 2000, an organizing committee of congress of heirs of Western Armenians who survived the Armenian Genocide is active in diasporan communities.[5]
Currently, the Republic of Armenia doesn't have any territorial claims to the Republic of Turkey, although, some political parties such as the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, the largest Armenian party in the diaspora, claim the area given to the Republic of Armenia (1918-1920) by US President Woodrow Wilson's arbitral award in 1920, also known as Wilsonian Armenia.