Armenian Arguments
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), using their position of leaders of Armenian national movement, claimed that this region should not be part of the Ottoman Empire based on their assertion that Armenians had the capability to build a nation. Armenians had de facto control over a region surrounding Van Province of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 3 years (1915-1918). The ARF stated that it was natural to annex this region to the newly established Democratic Republic of Armenia (1918-1920), the first modern establishment of an Armenian republic created after the collapse of the Russian Empire.
Another argument developed during this period was that the population was becoming increasingly more Armenian, and therefore Armenians were not a minority but a plurality; moving the displaced Armenians to this area should be considered as an option. In 1917, some 150,000 Armenians relocated to the provinces of Erzurum, Bitlis, Muş, and Van. The Armenians had already begun building their houses and creating their farmlands. In 1917, the provincial governor Aram Manukian ("Aram Pasha") stated that a new autonomous state in the region should be founded, under Russia or the Ottoman Empire. Armen Garo ("Karekin Pastirmaciyan") and other spokesmen proposed to have Armenian soldiers in Europe transfer to the Caucasus front for the protection and stability of the new establishment. Armenian soldiers began to create a protective line between the Ottoman Army and Armenian front.
Read more about this topic: Wilsonian Armenia
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