Why the name of this Turkish region is a deliberate act of historical erasure

Countries & Cities · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: The territory officially known as Eastern Anatolia was historically referred to as the Armenian highlands or Western Armenia. Following the Armenian genocide, the Turkish state systematically renamed the region to obscure its indigenous heritage, a process of nationalization that continues to shape the identity and politics of the land today.

The geographical area now designated as the Eastern Anatolia Region encompasses what was historically known as Western Armenia. For centuries, this region was home to a large indigenous Armenian population, alongside minorities including Georgians and Greeks. However, the Armenian genocide fundamentally altered the region's demographic and economic landscape. Through mass killings, deportations, and the widespread confiscation of property—including farms, businesses, and homes—the state facilitated the creation of a new Muslim-Turkish national economy. This transformation was cemented by a deliberate policy of renaming, which gained momentum under the Republic of Turkey in the 1920s.

The effort to erase Armenian history began even earlier, under the Ottoman Empire. In the 1880s, Sultan Abdul Hamid II banned the use of the term 'Armenia' in official documents, replacing it with labels like 'Anatolia' or 'Kurdistan' to suppress the so-called 'Armenian question.' This linguistic shift was not merely administrative; it was a strategic attempt to deny the region's historical identity. Today, the region remains the largest and highest-altitude part of Turkey, characterized by a harsh continental climate, low population density, and a persistent economic lag compared to the country's western provinces.

For many Armenians, the region remains a site of pilgrimage, often called 'Ergir' or the 'old country.' These journeys are fraught with complexity, as visitors encounter a landscape where place-names have been changed, villages have vanished, and Armenian heritage is often repurposed or obscured. While some religious sites have been restored, they are frequently presented as tourist attractions rather than living centers of faith. Sociologist Defne Över has noted that even at the Armenian cathedral at Akhtamar, visitors are sometimes reminded by guards that they are merely tourists, highlighting the ongoing tension between the physical accessibility of these ancestral lands and their political, material, and social transformation.

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