Caucase WESTERNWESTERN ARMENIAARMENIA VS.VS. EASTERNEASTERN ANATOLIAANATOLIA

par Armen Ayvazyan Doctor of Political Science

nfortunately, the problem the 20th century. Armenia. Suny’s index does not recog- with the terms Anatolia and nize ARMENIA — either ancient, me- U eastern Anatolia is not ade- The Western academics and media dieval, modern, or even Russian — be- employ this relatively recent and inac- quately recognized in the Diaspora, es- fore 1918, although “[ancient] Armenia” curate Turkish geographical terminol- pecially in the USA. I discuss this prob- [p. 7], “[medieval and late medieval] ogy with great encouragement. As a re- lem in my book “History of Armenia as Armenia,” “eastern Armenia,” sult, the term Armenia has been reduced Presented in American Historiography”, pp. 37- “[Western] Armenia,” [p. 18] and “his- to an extremely rare use by major 40, 42 (note 64), 43 (note 65), 64-65, 223. torical” and “historic Armenia” [pp. 19, Western encyclopedic and reference pub- You may find this book at 104] occasionally creep into the narra- lications, such as “Cambridge History http://www.hayq.org/upload/files/Ar tion. Furthermore, the text and index of Iran” and others. menian_Rebellion_ENG.pdf (the pages incorrectly substitutes Anatolian of the printed edition do not coincide, Some Diasporan Armenian “schol- Armenians, for the traditional term however) ars” (who are BTW honored by the Western/Turkish Armenians to all I would try to briefly present the Armenian community) went farther Armenians living in Turkey. The term problem and then offer some ways of than the Turks. Let us examine, for ex- Anatolian Armenians should designate solution. ample, Ronald Suny’s claim that “the only those living outside of historical proto-Armenians migrated into eastern Armenia, in Asia Minor only. SOME FACTS FROM Anatolia, the Armenian Plateau, in the HISTORIOGRAPHY mid-sixth century B.C.” [Looking Toward THE CONVENIENCE FACTOR Ararat, p. 7]. This is a flawed phrase, be- There’s an argument that “the west- The Turkish historiography’s stated cause: objective in regard to the term Armenia ern press usually mentions southeastern was summarized by the Turkish secret First, the identification of eastern Anatolia with respect to Kurdish issues. service former agent Esat Uras, the Anatolia with the entire Armenian This may also be a Turkish initiative, “Father of Turkish Armenology,” in his Plateau, especially, when talking about but it is something that is recognised book “The Armenians and the Armenian ques- ancient times, is historically and geo- today.” tion.” Esat Uras’ book was first published graphically incorrect. From the ancient The fact that eastern Anatolia is often in Turkey in 1950, where the following period through the Middle Ages to mod- mentioned and recognized today in the sentence appears in foreword (önsöz) in ern times, the geographical term Western media is itself a product of our capital letters: Anatolia has been synonymous with the negligence, passivity, and compliance. peninsula of Asia Minor, which is to the Had we voiced our concerns about these «I REGARD IT AS NECESSARY, west of the Armenian Plateau/historic AND IMPORTANT ABOVE EVERY- terms 50 years ago and had we been as Armenia. Only since the 1920s has consistent as the Turks, the situation THING ELSE, TO POINT OUT THAT Anatolia and the newly-coined designa- ARMENIA CANNOT BE ANYTHING would have been significantly different. tion «eastern Anatolia» come to be in- We can find many other expressions for OTHER THAN SIMPLE MEMORY creasingly applied — at first in Turkey — BASED ON GEOGRAPHY, A REGION saying the same by skirting both to the whole eastern part of the Turkish Anatolia and Turkey and simultaneously WITHOUT POLITICAL BOUND- Republic, including Western Armenia ARIES.» somehow recalling Armenia and and Kurdistan. However, even in its lat- Western Armenia. In the English edition of the same ter, largely artificial, usage it never sig- book (Ankara, 1988), this sentence was nified the whole Armenian plateau, fail- The «eastern Anatolia» is generally omitted.1 ing to include its eastern one-third, that understood as something inherently In line with this imperative, Uras in- is, the territories of Eastern Turkish. Most importantly, this term correctly employs the terms Anatolia [Persian/Russian/Soviet/independent] effectively eliminates the name of our and eastern Anatolia and subsumes Armenia. Like Uras, Suny subsumes historic homeland. Armenia under them. The index to Armenia under Anatolia and eastern Once, I encountered the term “The Uras’ vast volume does not include the Anatolia throughout his book [Looking INDIGENOUS Armenian people of item Armenia even once! Whereas, ac- Toward Ararat, pp. 55, 56, 67, 95, 98, 104, eastern Anatolia” made by an Armenian tually, Armenia, rather than a simple ge- 111, etc.]. Suny’s index [pp. 283-289] activist. Such usages also have unfavor- ographical term, has been dignifying, presents even more vivid evidence for able connotations to a Westerner’s ear, first and foremost, a territory where this ahistorical replacement of Armenia. reminding him of the Australian, Armenian statehood and civilization The term Armenia is effectively emp- Brazilian, American or Canadian in- were born and developed through an- tied and limited to temporary political digenous peoples, whose plight is ab- cient to medieval times and where the formations such as The Republic of solutely irreversible forever! What Armenians continued to constitute a ma- Armenia [1918-1920] and Soviet should we expect, for example, from a jority or, at some places, a plurality, up Armenia [1920-1991] or stripped of its Western diplomat who, while being ac- to their Genocide in the beginning of independent existence as in Turkish quainted to the Armenian Question,

57 Europe & Orient - n°4 Caucase reads that the indigenous Armenians understand that given today’s circum- “Armenian patriotism is a politically have suffered a Genocide somewhere in stances this could prove to be difficult realistic feeling of loyalty to the Armenian eastern Anatolia? Taking into account or unworkable, because of the increased nation and the physical territory, namely, that he would never have enough time number of assimilated and acculturated to Armenia, in three time dimensions: in and disposition to read sufficient amount “Armenians” and “Armenian scholars”. her historic, present and aspirational of good literature (which itself is lack- In Suny’s, Nina Garsoyan’s and Co.’ boundaries (in the first and last cases these ing in English), I can maintain that he cases, it is a deliberate misuse of the terms boundaries coincide with the Armenian would assume that Anatolia, eastern Highland). True Armenian patriotism is, these “indigenous” We should strive to Anatolia, Anatolian first and foremost, a feeling of an attach- Armenians, before suf- reach the point, when no Armenians at the ex- ment to the territory itself.” fering this genocide, Armenian Diasporan pense of Armenia, for ages had been kind Western Armenia, Addendum: of stateless, powerless, politician, scholar or Western/Turkish less civilized, and in ex- newspaper uses the Armenians. TheAnatolian Plateau treme minority in east- terms Eastern Anatolia How effective Encyclopedia Britannica, 1999, CD version ern Anatolia. So their instead of saying could the Armenian The central massif. descendants should Western Armenia. position be if we say The central massif is located in the western half never ever claim their that we have suffered a of the country, between the Pontic and Taurus sys- rights to the territories genocide in our homeland of… Anatolia tems. This elevated zone is often referred to as the of Turkey’s eastern Anatolia, which his- or, even worse, eastern Anatolia?! So we , although its relief is much torically has been homeland for myriad Anatolian Plateau need to find ways to combat these cur- more varied than this term suggests. At least four of currently vanished peoples and eth- rently widely used terms on every front, subdivisions of the central massif can be identified. nies (More so, since Turkey is a cher- at least by refraining from using them. Inland from the Aegean as far as a line from Bursa ished ally). 3) INTERNATIONAL ARENA: to Denizli, a series of faulted blocks gives a north- In short, “eastern Anatolia” or we should gradually try to increase the south alternation of steep-sided plateaus rising Anatolia eliminates the basic terms of frequency of using the terms historical 5,000-6,500 feet and low-lying valley floors. Armenia, Western Armenia and Armenia, Western Armenia and Alluvial plains along the larger rivers, such as the Armenian Plateau. Armenian Highlands/Plateau at the ex- Gediz, Küçükmenderes, and Büyükmenderes, are GEOGRAPHY pense of Anatolia and eastern Anatolia. among the largest in Turkey and are of special The ways could be elaborated further agricultural value. East of this section, roughly to This question is simple. In strict ge- by all of us. Though hard, the work in a line from Eskisehir to Burdur, is a complex up- ographical terms, the Armenian Plateau these directions should be started with- land zone. The general surface level rises to the (or Armenian Highlands) does not cor- out delay, otherwise the tide would go east from 1,500 to 3,000 feet; set into the upland respond to Anatolian Plateau. The the other way: the Diasporan Armenians are several downfaulted basins, and above it short Anatolian Plateau is the central part of would forget that they had some time mountain ranges rise to 6,500 feet. Asia Minor, between the mountains of in the past the homeland with the name The most distinctive part of the central mas- Pontos and Tavros, to the west of Armenia and the term “eastern Anatolia” sif is the area bounded on the south by the Taurus Armenian Plateau. If now there are at- would become common usage in Mountains and on the northeast by a line from tempts by the Turkish or Western aca- Armenia, which currently lacks any state Ankara through Lake Tuz to Nigde. There the demic and media outlets to confuse the structures that can understand and sub- term plateau is most applicable, with large ex- things, we need to confront them rather vert such ideological diversions. panses of flat or gently sloping land at elevations than conform to them. See also an In sum, ARMENIA is a fundamen- of about 3,000 feet separated by low upswellings Addendum below. tal term! in the surface. Measuring some 150 by 200 miles, SOLUTIONS The homeland - Armenia - is one: these are by far the most extensive plains in Turkey, but their agricultural value is reduced by the ef- • Western Armenia There are three levels where we must fects of altitude and location on their climate. confront these terms. • Eastern Armenia • Artsakh The remainder of the central massif, a roughly 1) ARMENIA: Luckily, there is suf- • Javakhk triangular area with its eastern apex near Sivas, ficient awareness here about this prob- • Nakhijevan forms a mountainous zone that bounds the plains lem: no serious scholar or politician in each one and all together constitute on their eastern side. Much of this section rises Armenia uses the term eastern Anatolia Armenia. above 5,000 feet, and there are numerous peaks to designate the territory of Western with elevations of about 6,500 feet. A notewor- If someone with an Armenian ori- Armenia. My book on US Armenology thy feature is the extensive area of geologically re- gin doesn’t feel his/her attachment to also played some role in emphasizing cent volcanic activity in Nigde, Nevsehir, and the territory of all Armenia to the ex- this problem. Though such awareness Kayseri provinces, including the volcanic peaks of tent of complying to the usage of term comes from the Soviet times, even the Erciyes (12,844 feet) and Hasan (10,686 feet). Armenian encyclopedia spoke about it. (eastern) Anatolia instead of Western However, even in Armenia one should Armenia, it simply means that his/her process of assimilation has taken its toll 1 I took the English translation of this sen- not be complacent, because now in- tence from Christopher Walker’s excellent re- creasingly more young students read and he/she is not Armenian any more view of Uras’English edition. The review was (having Armenian origin is not sufficient published in the «Journal of the Royal Asiatic English-written literature without hav- Society,» 1990, No. 1, pp. 165-170; this par- ing a critical approach or guidance; for being considered an Armenian). It’s ticular sentence is quoted on p. 166. My trans- the same as discussing the issue of 2) DIASPORA: We should strive to lation of this review into Armenian appeared whether the Genocide took place or no. in «Pyunik» Semi-Monthly, Yerevan, March reach the point, when no Armenian 31, 1992. Diasporan politician, scholar or news- May I also quote from my “Strategic paper uses the terms Eastern Anatolia Gaps in Armenian Political instead of saying Western Armenia. I Consciousness”:

Europe & Orient - n°4 58