Western Armenia

Western Armenia (Western Armenian: Արեւմտեան Հայաստան, Arevmdian Hayasdan) 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.^[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 AD 387. Since the Armenian genocide, the Armenian diaspora as well as Armenians indigenous to modern Turkey have sought political representation in Western Armenia^[3]^[4] 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 the region became only decisive after the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1623–1639.^[5] The area then became known also as Turkish Armenia^[6] or Ottoman Armenia.^[7] During the 19th century, the Russian Empire conquered all of Eastern Armenia from Iran,^[8] 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 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,^[9]^[10] is considered an example of cultural genocide.^[11]^[12]

Since 2000, an organizing committee of the congress of heirs of Western Armenians who survived the Armenian genocide is active in diasporan communities.^[13] 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 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."^[14]

^ "2011 Census Results" (PDF). armstat.am. National Statistical Service of Republic of Armenia. p. 144.
^ Myhill, John (2006). Language, Religion and National Identity in Europe and the Middle East: A historical study. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins. p. 32. ISBN 978-90-272-9351-0.
^ "About Government" Archived 2023-04-15 at the Wayback Machine. The Government of the Republic of Western Armenia (Armenia).
^ "Western Armenians are preparing". A1+. 16 November 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2008.
^ Wallimann, Isidor; Dobkowski, Michael N. (March 2000). Genocide and the Modern Age: Etiology and Case Studies of Mass Death. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815628286. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
^ Tozer, Henry Fanshawe (1881). Turkish Armenia and Eastern Asia Minor. Longmans, Green, and Company. ISBN 9780404164621.
^ Laderman, Charlie (2019). Sharing the Burden: The Armenian Question, Humanitarian Intervention, and Anglo-American Visions of Global Order. Oxford University Press. p. 42. ISBN 9780190618605.
^ Timothy C. Dowling Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond pp 728–729 ABC-CLIO, 2 December 2014 ISBN 1598849484
^ Marie-Aude Baronian; Stephan Besser; Yolande Jansen (2007). Diaspora and Memory: Figures of Displacement in Contemporary Literature, Arts and Politics. Rodopi. p. 174. ISBN 9789042021297.
^ Shirinian, Lorne (1992). The Republic of Armenia and the rethinking of the North-American Diaspora in literature. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press. p. ix. ISBN 9780773496132. This date is important, for it marks the beginning of the Armenian Genocide, which destroyed the multi-thousand-year Armenian presence in historical, Western Armenia.
^ Hovannisian, Richard G. (2008). The Armenian Genocide: Cultural and Ethical Legacies. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. p. 22. ISBN 9781412835923.
^ Jones, Adam (2013). Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction. Routledge. p. 114. ISBN 9781134259816.
^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Սեւրի Դաշնագրի 100-ամեակին առիթով Ս.Դ.Հ.Կ.-Հ.Յ.Դ.-Ռ.Ա.Կ. միացեալ յայտարարութիւն – Հայ Դատի Կենտրոնական Խորհուրդ — Armenian National Committee – International". 13 January 2021. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2022.

[1] "2011 Census Results" (PDF). armstat.am. National Statistical Service of Republic of Armenia. p. 144.

[2] Myhill, John (2006). Language, Religion and National Identity in Europe and the Middle East: A historical study. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins. p. 32. ISBN 978-90-272-9351-0.

[3] "About Government" Archived 2023-04-15 at the Wayback Machine. The Government of the Republic of Western Armenia (Armenia).

[:02-4] "Western Armenians are preparing". A1+. 16 November 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2008.

[auto-5] Wallimann, Isidor; Dobkowski, Michael N. (March 2000). Genocide and the Modern Age: Etiology and Case Studies of Mass Death. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815628286. Retrieved 30 December 2014.

[6] Tozer, Henry Fanshawe (1881). Turkish Armenia and Eastern Asia Minor. Longmans, Green, and Company. ISBN 9780404164621.

[7] Laderman, Charlie (2019). Sharing the Burden: The Armenian Question, Humanitarian Intervention, and Anglo-American Visions of Global Order. Oxford University Press. p. 42. ISBN 9780190618605.

[8] Timothy C. Dowling Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond pp 728–729 ABC-CLIO, 2 December 2014 ISBN 1598849484

[9] Marie-Aude Baronian; Stephan Besser; Yolande Jansen (2007). Diaspora and Memory: Figures of Displacement in Contemporary Literature, Arts and Politics. Rodopi. p. 174. ISBN 9789042021297.

[10] Shirinian, Lorne (1992). The Republic of Armenia and the rethinking of the North-American Diaspora in literature. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press. p. ix. ISBN 9780773496132. This date is important, for it marks the beginning of the Armenian Genocide, which destroyed the multi-thousand-year Armenian presence in historical, Western Armenia.

[11] Hovannisian, Richard G. (2008). The Armenian Genocide: Cultural and Ethical Legacies. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. p. 22. ISBN 9781412835923.

[12] Jones, Adam (2013). Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction. Routledge. p. 114. ISBN 9781134259816.

[:0-13] Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[14] "Սեւրի Դաշնագրի 100-ամեակին առիթով Ս.Դ.Հ.Կ.-Հ.Յ.Դ.-Ռ.Ա.Կ. միացեալ յայտարարութիւն – Հայ Դատի Կենտրոնական Խորհուրդ — Armenian National Committee – International". 13 January 2021. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2022.

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