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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. Western Armenia, also referred to as Byzantine Armenia, emerged following the division of Greater Armenia between the Byzantine Empire (Western Armenia) and Sasanian Empire (Eastern Armenia) in AD 387.
The area was contested during the Ottoman–Persian Wars and was conquered by the Ottoman Empire during the wars of 1532–1555 and 1623–1639. The area then became known also as "Turkish Armenia" or "Ottoman Armenia", and included Six Vilayets. During the 19th century, the Russian Empire conquered sections of Western Armenia, including Kars.
The region's Armenian population was subjected to widespread massacres in the 1890s, as well as extermination and deportation during the 1915 Armenian genocide and over the following years. In addition to physical erasure, the systematic destruction of Armenian cultural heritage, which had endured over 4000 years, (2025). 9789042021297, Rodopi. ISBN 9789042021297 is an example of cultural genocide. In 1920 the Treaty of Sèvres – signed between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies Powers of World War I – called for borders where Western Armenia was included the Republic of Armenia; however, this was never implemented and the Turkish invasion of Armenia resulted in the annexation of Kars and Surmalu. These annexations were formalized by the Treaty of Alexandropol (1920), Treaty of Moscow (1920), and Treaty of Kars (1921).
Since the Armenian genocide and Turkey's invasion, Armenian—both in the diaspora and indigenous to modern Turkey—have pursued political representation or United Armenia United Armenia, with a congress of genocide survivors' descendants active in the diaspora. "About Government" . The Government of the Republic of Western Armenia (Armenia). In 2020, the three traditional Armenian parties—the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (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 it is the only internationally legal document that demarcates the border between Armenia and Turkey. Transit between Western Armenia and Eastern Armenia has remained barred since 1993 due to the ongoing Turkish–Azeri blockade of Republic of 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 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. The name "Armenia" was forbidden to be used in official documents by Ottoman authorities in the 1880s, and the region was officially renamed "Eastern Anatolia" by the Turkish successor state in the 1920s.* The Armenian Genocide: Cultural and Ethical Legacies – Page 3, by Richard G. Hovannisian – 2011
This has been characterized as an attempt by Turkey to erase the Armenian history of the region. (2025). 9781849044585, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9781849044585
(2025). 9781860649790, I.B. Tauris. ISBN 9781860649790
(2025). 9781849044585, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9781849044585 (2025). 9781860649790, I.B. Tauris. ISBN 9781860649790
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.
A 2014 survey in Armenia asked what kind of demands should be made 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 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 is unrealistic." (later restored)]]
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