Western Armenia (for other names see below) is a term, primarily used by Armenians, to refer to formerly Armenian-inhabited areas of the Armenian Highland that were part of the Ottoman Empire since the 16th century and became part of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.
During the late 19th century and early 20th century, the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire became the target of systematic mass killing campaigns, such as the Hamidian Massacres of 1894–1896, the Adana massacre of 1909. During the Armenian Genocide of 1915–1923 most Armenians were either massacred, escaped to Russia or internally displaced to the Syrian Desert.
Currently, mostly Kurds and Turks live in that area, with minorities being Azerbaijanis, Laz people and Hamshenis.
Read more about Western Armenia: Etymology, Current Situation, See Also
Famous quotes containing the word western:
“It appeared that he had once represented his tribe at Augusta, and also once at Washington, where he had met some Western chiefs. He had been consulted at Augusta, and gave advice, which he said was followed, respecting the eastern boundary of Maine, as determined by highlands and streams, at the time of the difficulties on that side. He was employed with the surveyors on the line. Also he called on Daniel Webster in Boston, at the time of his Bunker Hill oration.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)