Westarmenien

This article is about the historical subregion in Eurasia. See Armenian Highland for the geographical region.

Western Armenia (Western Vorlage:Lang-hy), also referred to as Byzantine Armenia, later Turkish Armenia, or Ottoman Armenia is a term coined following the division of Greater Armenia between Byzantine Empire (Western Armenia) and Persia (Eastern Armenia) in 387 AD.

History

After the death of Armenian king Arshak III, in 390 AD, the Western Armenia was governed by Byzantine generals. In the 7th century Western Armenia was one of the centers of Pavlikian Christian popular sect. Since 9th century the most part of Western Armenia included Vaspurakan and Taron was under the rule of Bagratid dynasty of Armenia. Then the Zakarid Armenia of 13-14th centuries included some parts of Western Armenia.

After Turkish-Persian wars of 1602-1639 Western Armenia became part of Ottoman Empire. Since Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829 that term is referred to the Armenian-populated historical regions of the Ottoman Empire that remained under Ottoman rule after the eastern part was ceded to the Russian Empire.

Datei:Flag of Administration of Western Armenia.svg

Flag of the Administration for Western Armenia (1915–1918).

Western (Ottoman) Armenia was composed of six vilayets (vilâyat-ı sitte), the vilayets of Erzurum, Van, Bitlis, Diyarbekir, Kharput, and Sivas.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 resulting in the Armenian Genocide. The Administration for Western Armenia (Free Vaspurakan) was a provisional Armenian government in areas of Western Armenia under Russian occupation from 1915–1918.

After the Armenian genocide the distinct Western Armenian dialect of the Armenian language (recognized as one of the major dialects of Armenian) is spoken primarily in Istanbul, Lebanon, Egypt, other parts of Armenian diaspora, and formerly in eastern Turkey. It differs orthographically from Eastern Armenian, there are also phonological differences. In some parts of the diaspora, the Armenian schools, such as L'École Arménienne Sourp Hagop and the Armenian Sisters Academy instruct Western Armenian to the students, instead of Eastern Armenian, the official dialect of the Republic of Armenia.

According to UNESCO's 2009 "Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger", the Western Armenian language in Turkey is definitely endangered.

Modern period

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. 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.

Demographics

Ethnic groups

Datei:Six Vilayets (Western Armenia) ethnic groups.GIF

Ethnic map of Six Armenian Vilayets (Western Armenia)

Ethncic groups in the Six Vilayets (Erzerum, Van, Bitlis, Mamuret-ül Aziz, Diyarbekir and Sivas vilayets) of Ottoman Empire.

Ethnic groups	Erzurum	Van	Bitlis	Mamuret-ül Aziz	Diyarbekir	Sivas	Total	%
Armenians	215,000	185,000	180,000	168,000	105,000	165,000	1,018,000	38.93
Turks	240,000	47,000	40,000	102,00	45,000	192,000	666.000	25.47
Sedentary Kurds	35,000	32,000	35,000	75,000	30,000	35,000	242,000	9.25
Nomadic Kurds	40,000	40,000	42,000	20,000	25,000	15,000	182,000	6.96
Qizilbash	25,000		8,000	80,00	27,000		140,000	5.35
Nestorians, Jacobites, Chaldeans		18,000	15,000	5,000	60,000	25,000	123,000	4.7
Zaza, Tambli, Tohariklis	30,000		47,000				77,000	2.94
Circassians	7,000		10,000			45,000	62,000	2.37
Greeks and other Christians	12,000					30,000	42,000	1.61
Yazidis	3,000	25,000	5,000		4,000		37,000	1.41
Persians	13,000						13,000	0.5
Lazs	10,000						10,000	0.38
Gipsies	3,000						3,000	0.11
TOTAL	630,000	350,000	382,000	450,000	296,000	507,000	2,615,000	100

Religion

Armenians	1,018,000

Regions

• Eastern Anatolia Region
• Geography of Armenia
• Eastern Armenia
• Armenian Highland

See also

• Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
• Administration for Western Armenia
• Kingdom of Armenia
• Russian Armenia
• Wilsonian Armenia

Further reading

• Arman J. Kirakosian, "English Policy towards Western Armenia and Public Opinion in Great Britain (1890-1900)", Yerevan, 1981, 26 p. (in Armenian and Russian).

External links

• Disappearance of Western Armenia after World War 1
• Video: Provinces of Western Armenia
• Radio Television Western Armenia