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46-649: Since the 1060–1070s, the Armenian highlands and the Anti-Taurus Mountains had been exposed to Turkoman warriors and their rule, while the presence of local Christian lords in the region stretching from the Cilician plain to Diyar Mudar persisted. Philaretos is described by Michael the Syrian as having a "tough and robust character" while Matthew of Edessa saw him as a "lawless and most evil prince". Philaretos held

92-491: A 2012 survey, 36% of Armenians asked agree or somewhat agree that Turkish recognition of the Armenian Genocide will result in territorial compensation, while 45% believe it will not. The online publication Barometer.am wrote: "It appears that our pragmatic population believes that all possible demands should be forwarded to Turkey [...] but a relative majority consider the practical realization of territorial claims to Turkey

138-448: A division of Romanus' army, and remained at the head of a considerable body of troops after the defeat. In the aftermath of the battle, he commanded the forces of the fortress Romanopolis , and on Romanus' death he assumed the title of emperor. As the only remaining Byzantine general in the southeast he established a quasi-autonomous realm in the neighbourhood of Germanicia , which stretched from Cilicia to Edessa . The core of his army

184-593: A high command in the army of Romanus IV Diogenes . In 1069 he was given the command of the main Byzantine army that was protecting the frontier of Mesopotamia while Romanus participated in the siege of Akhlat. He was defeated by the Seljuk Turks who advanced deep into Cappadocia and Lycaonia and plundered at will before rapidly retreating with their spoils. He was present at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, where he commanded

230-658: Is a term to refer to the western parts of the Armenian highlands located within Turkey (formerly the Ottoman Empire ) that comprise the historical homeland of the Armenians . 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 AD 387. Since

276-678: Is also traditionally believed to be one of the possible locations of the Garden of Eden . The Armenian Plateau has been called the "epicenter of the Iron Age ", since it appears to be the location of the first appearance of Iron Age metallurgy in the late 2nd millennium BC . In the Early Iron Age , the Kingdom of Van controlled much of the region, until it was overthrown by the Medes and Orontid dynasty . In

322-521: Is considered a key issue in the modern history of the Armenian people. In 1894–1896 and 1915 the Ottoman Empire perpetrated systematic massacres and forced deportations of Armenians 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

368-627: Is in present-day eastern Anatolia , and also includes northwestern Iran, all of Armenia, southern Georgia , and western Azerbaijan. Its northeastern parts are also known as Lesser Caucasus , which is a center of Armenian culture . Regardless of its topography, the Armenian highlands are primarily defined by the geographical dispersal of its native inhabitants, the Armenians. From 4000 to 1000 BC, tools and trinkets of copper, bronze and iron were commonly produced in this region and traded in neighboring lands where those metals were less abundant. It

414-631: Is nowadays referred to as eastern Anatolia , and Eastern Armenia as the Lesser Caucasus or Caucasus Minor, and historically as the Anti-Caucasus, meaning "opposite the Caucasus". During the Iron Age , the region was known by variations of the name Ararat ( Urartu , Uruatri , Urashtu ). Later, the Highlands were known as Armenia Major , a central region to the history of Armenians , and one of

460-566: The Encyclopaedia of Islam : It occupied a large part of present-day Turkey, the whole of the territory of the present Republic of Armenia, further districts, now in the Republic of Azerbaijan , immediately adjacent to the east, and the northwest corner of modern Iran . The preceding is the definition of Armenia assumed in texts of the Classical and Late Classical periods and laid out explicitly in

506-514: The Epic of Gilgamesh , the land of Aratta is placed in a geographic space that could be describing the Armenian plateau. In Antiquity , the population living on the Highlands was ethnically diverse, but in the Achaemenid period (550–330 BC), Armenian-speakers came to prominence. Recent studies have shown that Armenians are indigenous to the Armenian highlands and form a distinct genetic isolate in

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552-592: The Armenian genocide , the Armenian diaspora as well as Armenians indigenous to modern Turkey have sought political representation in Western Armenia or reunification with the Republic of Armenia. 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

598-477: The Armenian language came to prominence. The population of the Armenian highlands seem to have had a high level of regional genetic continuity for over 6,000 years. Recent studies have shown that the Armenian people descend from the indigenous people of the Armenian highlands and form a distinct genetic isolate in the region. The region was also inhabited during Antiquity by minorities such as Assyrians , Georgians , Greeks , Jews , and Iranians . During

644-829: 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

690-449: The Caucasus and Eastern Armenia at the expense of its suzerain, Qajar Iran , after four major wars spanning more than two centuries. The Highlands saw a massive demographic shift after the Armenian genocide and fall of the Ottoman Empire, with Western Armenia being relabeled "Eastern Anatolia". Since the Armenian genocide and partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I ,

736-555: The Middle Ages , Arabs and particularly Turkmens and Kurds settled in large numbers in the Armenian highlands. The Christian population of the western half of the region was exterminated during the Armenian genocide (1915–1917), organized and perpetrated by the Committee of Union and Progress as part of their Turkification policies. Today, the eastern half is mainly inhabited by Armenians , Azerbaijanis , and Georgians , while

782-683: The Sykes–Picot agreement . 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

828-729: The Turks began to press heavily upon him. In December 1084, he lost Antioch to Suleiman I , ruler of the Turks of Rum . In 1087, Edessa fell to Malik Shah and Philaretos escaped back to the fortress of Germanicia; however, some sources indicate that he died in 1086. He was the last well-known Domestic of the Schools of the East. His sons handed Germanicia to the First Crusade in 1098. After his death, his principality fell apart and various other Armenians took control of fractions of it: Kogh Vasil controlled

874-416: The 1890s . The Armenians living in their ancestral lands were exterminated or deported by Ottoman forces during the 1915 Armenian genocide and over the following years. The systematic destruction of Armenian cultural heritage, which had endured over 4000 years, is considered an example of cultural genocide . Since 2000, an organizing committee of the congress of heirs of Western Armenians who survived

920-672: The Anti-Taurus departs to the north from the Central (Cilician) Taurus, and, passing right in the middle of the Armenian plateau, parallel to the Eastern (Armenian) Taurus , ends in the east at the Ararat peaks. To the west is the Anatolian plateau , which rises slowly from the lowland coast of the Aegean Sea and converges with the Armenian highlands to the east of Cappadocia . The Caucasus extends to

966-541: The Armenian genocide is active in diasporan communities . On August 10, 2020, the three traditional Armenian parties—the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF, Dashnaks), Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (Hunchaks) and the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (Ramgavars)—issued a joint statement on the centenary of the Sèvres Treaty, stating that the treaty is the only international document defining

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1012-597: The Highlands have been the boundary region of Turkey, Iran and the Soviet Union and, since the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union , Armenia , and parts of Georgia and Azerbaijan . The apricot , known by the Romans as the prunus armenicus (the Armenian plum), was brought to Europe from the Armenian plateau. Western Armenia Western Armenia ( Western Armenian : Արեւմտեան Հայաստան, Arevmdian Hayasdan )

1058-569: The Highlands saw the migrations of the Karluk and Kharizmian peoples. The Mongols, who did not distinguish between Christianity and Islam , reached the Highlands in 1235. With their arrival, Armenia became part of "the East" in its entirety for the first time since the territory was partitioned during the Byzantine–Sasanian wars . Considered the successors of the Abbasids , Sassanids and Seljuks,

1104-769: The Mongols eventually converted to Islam and established their dynasty in modern day Azerbaijan . In 1410 the area was ruled by the Kara Koyunlu , who ruled until 1468. The pastoral culture of the Kara Koyunlu Turks undermined agricultural practices in Armenia. In 1468, the Ak Koyunlu Turks assumed power; their reign lasted until 1502 when the Safavids brought Armenia under Iranian rule. The Ottoman Turks did not take control of

1150-647: 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 Russo-Persian War (1804–1813) and Russo-Persian War (1826–1828) . Western (Ottoman) Armenia consisted of six vilayets ( vilâyat-ı sitte ): the vilayets of Erzurum , Van , Bitlis , Diyarbekir , Kharput , and Sivas . The fate of Western Armenia – commonly referred to as "The Armenian Question " –

1196-519: The area has resulted in large volcanic formations and a series of massifs and tectonic movement has formed the three largest lakes in the Highlands: Lake Sevan , Lake Van , and Lake Urmia . The Armenian highlands are rich in water resources. The central, axial chain of Armenian highland ridges, running from west to east across Western Armenia , is called the Anti-Taurus . In the west,

1242-463: The area of Kaysun , Raban and Hromkla , Thoros controlled Edessa, Gabriel held Melitene and a certain Constantine the town of Gargar . Armenian highlands The Armenian highlands ( Armenian : Հայկական լեռնաշխարհ , romanized :  Haykakan leṙnašxarh ; also known as the Armenian upland , Armenian plateau , or Armenian tableland ) is the most central and the highest of

1288-462: The border between Armenia and Turkey. "The Treaty of Sevres is a valid international treaty, although it has not been ratified by all signatories, but it has not been legally replaced by any other international instrument. At least from the point of view of the rights of the Armenian Cause, the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian nation, it remains a promissory note based on international law." In

1334-422: The congress of heirs of Western Armenians who survived the Armenian genocide is active in diasporan communities. A 2014 survey in Armenia asked what kind of demands should Armenia make to Turkey. Some 80% agreed that Armenia should make territorial claims (30% said only territorial claims, while another 50% said territorial, moral, financial, and proprietary). Only 5.5% said no demands should be made. According to

1380-473: The early modern era and on, the region came directly under Safavid Iranian rule. Heavily contested for centuries between the Iranian Safavids and its archrival the Ottoman Empire , with numerous wars raging over the region, large parts of the Highlands comprising Western Armenia were finally conquered by the Ottomans in the first half of the 17th century following the Ottoman–Safavid War (1623–39) and

1426-575: The early seventh-century C.E. document called the Ašxarhac‘oyc‘ ("Geography"). The earlier Arab geographers know Armenia (Arminīya) under this definition, but the Muslim geographers of the late Middle Ages know Armenia as a much more restricted area, effectively the regions of Lake Van, Erzurum , and the upper Aras in Azerbaijan ( Adhharbāyjān ). According to Britannica Online , most of the Armenian highlands

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1472-586: 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 . After the Ottoman-Persian War (1623–1639) , Western Armenia became decisively part of the Ottoman Empire . After the Russo-Turkish War, 1828–1829 , the term "Western Armenia" referred to the Armenian -populated historical regions of

1518-436: The four geopolitical regions associated with Armenians , the other three being Armenia Minor , Sophene , and Commagene . The highlands are primarily defined by the geographical dispersal of its native inhabitants, the Armenians. Prior to the appearance of nominally Armenian people in historical records, historians have hypothesized that the region must have been home to various ethnic groups who became homogenous when

1564-464: The highland region until 1514, several decades after Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were given millet status. The Highlands came under Ottoman control following the defeat of the Safavids at the Battle of Chalderon ; they appointed Kurdish tribesman to rule over the highlands' local administrative affairs. By 1516, the Ottoman Empire had invaded all of the Armenian lands, including Cilicia. From

1610-546: The northeast of the Armenian highlands, with the Kura river forming its eastern boundary in the Kura-Aras lowlands . To its southeast is the Iranian plateau , where the elevation drops rapidly by about 600 metres (2,000 ft) to 1,500 metres (5,000 ft) above sea level. To the southwest is Mesopotamia (or Fertile Crescent ). According to Thomas A. Sinclair in the third edition of

1656-475: The peninsula until finally the Ottoman Empire was declared in 1299. The Seljuks' victory at the Battle of Manzikert made them dominant in the region. Ruben I, Prince of Armenia , led some Armenians out of the Highlands and escaped into the mountains of Cilicia , where they founded the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia . In the early 13th century, as various peoples fled from the advancing Mongol onslaught,

1702-401: The region became only decisive after the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1623–1639 . The area then became known also as Turkish Armenia or Ottoman Armenia . During the 19th century, the Russian Empire conquered all of Eastern Armenia from Iran , and also some parts of Turkish Armenia, such as Kars . The region's Armenian population was affected during the widespread massacres of Armenians in

1748-613: The region is divided between Armenia , Azerbaijan , Iran , and Turkey. The Armenian highlands is part of the Alpide belt , forming part of the Eurasian range that stretches from the Pontic Mountains to the Malay Peninsula . Its total area is about 400,000 km . Historically, the Armenian highlands have been the scene of great volcanic activity. Geologically recent volcanism on

1794-418: The region. There are signs of considerable genetic admixture in Armenians between 3000 BC and 2000 BC , these mixture dates also coincide with the legendary establishment of Armenia in 2492 BCE, but they subside to insignificant levels since 1200 BC, remaining stable until today. Seljuk Turks first arrived in the Armenian highlands in the 1040s and expanded westward, conquering territories and populating

1840-541: The resulting Treaty of Zuhab . Eastern Armenia , the other major part of the Highlands, stayed in Iranian hands up to the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay , when it was ceded to Imperial Russia . During the first half of the 19th century, the Ottoman-held parts of the Armenian highlands comprising Western Armenia formed the boundary of the Ottoman and Russian spheres of influence, after the latter had completed its conquest of

1886-485: The rule of various Turkic peoples and the Safavid dynasty , with pockets of Armenian autonomy in places such as Artsakh . Much of Eastern Armenia , which had been ruled by the Safavids from the 16th century, became part of the Russian Empire in 1828 and was later incorporated into the Soviet Union , while much of Western Armenia was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and later incorporated into modern Turkey . Today,

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1932-492: The same period were T'urk'ahayastan (Թուրքահայաստան) or T'rk'ahayastan (Թրքահայաստան), both meaning Turkish Armenia . In the Turkish language , the literal translation of Western Armenia is Batı Ermenistan . The region has been officially described as Eastern Anatolia ( Doğu Anadolu ) since the seven geographical regions of Turkey were defined at the 1941 First Geography Congress . Throughout much of recorded history

1978-961: The sources cited, about 1,500,000 Armenians were killed during this act. 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. 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

2024-510: The three plateaus that together form the northern sector of West Asia . Clockwise starting from the west, the Armenian highlands are bounded by the Anatolian plateau , the Caucasus , the Kura-Aras lowlands , the Iranian Plateau , and Mesopotamia . The highlands are divided into western and eastern regions, defined by the Ararat Valley where Mount Ararat is located. Western Armenia

2070-416: The western half is mainly inhabited by Armenians (included crypto-Armenians and Hemshins ), Kurds (including Yazidis and Zazas ), Turks, and Azerbaijanis . The region was administered for most of its known history by Armenian nobility and states , whether it was as part of a fully independent Armenian state, as vassals, or as part of a foreign state. Since the 1040s, the highlands have been under

2116-420: Was composed of 8,000 "Franks" ( Normans ) under Raimbaud . In 1078, at the beginning of the rule of Nikephoros III Botaneiates , he agreed to abandon his imperial claims on condition that Botaneiates appoint him as the duke of Antioch , which included Edessa. Several seals testify him as megas domestikos and protokouropalates , then sebastos , then even protosebastos . He retained his dukedom until

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