The discourse around Armenian identity is one that oftentimes creates division within the Armenian community, as Western Armenians and Iranian Armenians tend to stand firm in the belief that Armenians are Southwest Asian and Middle Eastern, while some Eastern Armenians from the Caucasus lean towards the notion that Armenians are and should identify as European. Armenians, and even people from the Western world, are torn about the nuanced complexities of Armenian identity. But the geographic, genetic and historical identity of the Armenian people showcases an Asian and Middle Eastern heritage.
In the past year there have been several significant instances where Armenia was regarded as a European country, most shockingly during a CNN segment on the show The Lead with Jake Tapper. While reporting on the blockade of Artsakh, Tapper called Armenia and Azerbaijan “two European countries.” Another significant moment was when a CBN News host deemed Armenians as part of Europe while reporting on the same issue. Earlier this year Armenia was even listed as one of the “most welcoming countries in Europe,” according to euronews.
These moments have ignited a long-simmering discourse around Armenian identity, as people on social media debate whether Armenians are European, Asian or if they can claim Middle Eastern heritage. Oftentimes, non-Armenians join the discourse and deny the nuanced perspective of the Armenian identity. When this happens, it becomes clear that Armenians must take control of their narrative before the Armenian identity becomes erased all together.
Geographic identity is a core part of nationhood and cultural identity. That is why the concept of the homeland is so sacred. By looking more closely at the geographical placement of Armenians, we can better understand why Armenians are an Asian and Middle Eastern peoples.
The Middle East is a geographic region located in Southwest Asia and North Africa. It was first coined as a geopolitical term in the 1850s by the British. The British definition includes the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Egypt. The Middle East, soon after its inception, replaced the term “Near East,” which also was a British term used around the same time period. The Near East was originally created to differentiate West Asia, which shares borders with Europe, from the rest of Asia, which is further away from Europe and deemed the Middle and Far East. The old definition of the Near East also included the Balkans.
Armenian Highlands (Wikipedia)
Armenians are indigenous to the Armenian Highlands, which spans Eastern Anatolia and the South Caucasus, spilling over slightly into northern Mesopotamia. Anatolia, also known as modern-day Turkey, has historically been known as Asia Minor, a strategic trade route of the Silk Road and home to some of the first farmers. The people of Anatolia played an instrumental role in the ancient Near East and the Neolithic settlement of the European continent thousands of years ago.
With these geographic realities sorted out, one can conclude that, by using the British definition, Armenians who are indigenous to Eastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia are Middle Eastern. So what about Armenians from the Caucasus?
The Caucasus is a mountainous region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. This unique mountainous region spans parts of Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia. The South Caucasus consists of the modern-day countries of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, but the Caucasus mountains spill over into the southern tip of Russia (also known as the Northern Caucasus), eastern Turkey and northern Iran as well.
We know that the Northern Caucasus lies in Eastern Europe, so where does that leave the South Caucasus? The continents of Europe and Asia are one massive Eurasian landmass with no clear breakage, so the borders of the two continents are purely man-made and are based on history, ethnicity and culture, researched by geographers and historians over time. The concept of Europe, Asia and Africa dates back to ancient Greece, and definitions have varied over time. Even though the map around the Caucasus has been redrawn many times, historically, modern-day Armenia’s borders have commonly been considered to be part of Asia.
This complicated space has always been a topic of debate. The Soviet Union placed the entire Caucasus in Asia, and very rare, unofficial alternative maps place the South Caucasus entirely in Europe. Other experts refuse to categorize the region altogether, calling it a space “between” Europe and Asia.
Calling a region “in-between” doesn’t fare well in a globalized society and can cause confusion amongst people, especially when almost every other country in the world has a clear indicator of which continent it belongs too. Therefore, it makes sense that the most widely accepted and used division between Europe and Asia is the Greater Caucasus, which spans northern Georgia and Azerbaijan, and the Ural Mountains, which splits Russia into European and Asian portions. This places modern-day Armenia in Asia and ends a complicated and socially constructed debate.
So if modern-day Armenia is generally accepted to be a part of Asia, why is it cut off from the British definition of the Middle East? Armenia borders two core Middle Eastern countries: Iran and Turkey. The definition of the Middle East is constantly changing, with continual disagreements on the world stage of what countries should make up the Middle East.
Some newer definitions include the modern state of Armenia; some don’t. Others argue that the term should be replaced completely by Southwest Asia/North Africa (SWANA) in order to be more inclusive of surrounding countries with historical and cultural ties, since the British definition of the Middle East viewed West Asia and North Africa through the outdated 19th-century European lens.
Map of the Greater Middle East (orthographic projection) (Wikimedia Commons)
In 2004, the United States attempted to redefine the Middle East and replace it with the term “Greater Middle East.” The Greater Middle East was part of a reformation of the Middle East led by President George W. Bush and his administration. This sought to reframe how the Western world viewed the Middle East and desired to unify the Arab and Islamic world. Though this new definition was applied with ulterior motives and led with a stereotypical view of West Asia and North Africa, it still helped bring nuance to the region by including formerly excluded neighboring countries with historic and cultural ties. The Greater Middle East includes modern-day Armenia as part of the newly-updated American definition of the Middle East and is used by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Armenians who still cling to the notion of being European must understand that geographic reality is different from cultural influence. Since the modern-day borders of Armenia are near Europe, it is evident that there will be European influence in the region, particularly since Armenia just recently became independent after nearly 200 years of Russian occupation. Having European influence in a post-colonial Armenian state does not mean that Armenians are geographically, genetically or historically European.
One must also remember that the Middle East is extremely diverse both ethnically and religiously. It is not a race, nor is it solely the Arab or Islamic world. It is a geographic region with many different peoples, customs, cultures and religions. They simply have historic ties to one another as neighbors, and therefore have influenced one another culturally because of their shared geographic region. Some non-Arab ethnic groups from the Greater Middle East are Armenians, Assyrians, Persians, Kurds, Turks, Azeris, Afghans, Pashtuns, Amazighs, Yezidis, Jews, Copts, Greeks, Georgians and much more.
Now that we’ve covered geographic identity, let’s take a look at the genetic identity of the Armenian people. During the Bronze Age, there was significant population mixing that took place, laying the foundations of the Armenian identity.
The genetic components that mixed to create the Armenian identity are mainly made up of the Anatolian Neolithic Farmer. It makes up roughly half of the average Armenian genome, similar to the Assyrians, an indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. The other half of the average Armenian genome usually comprises of the Caucasian Hunter-Gatherer, which is shared with other Caucasians and Assyrians, the Iranian Neolithic Farmer and the Levant Natufian Hunter-Gatherer, which is shared with Levant Arabs. Though the average Armenian will share a similar genome with their ancient ancestors, Armenians are very diverse and individual genetic make-up of a person will vary.
Armenians have maintained genetic continuity since the sudden collapse of the Bronze Age, with the last significant epoch of genetic admixture occurring around that time. Due to their geographic location and later adoption of Christianity, Armenians have managed to maintain their genetic identity since then. Modern-day Armenians and Assyrians look more like the ancient Anatolian and Mesopotamian Near Easterners than many of the modern-day majority populations of the region. Armenians are descendants of the original inhabitants of the Near East.
Some people point out the genetic affinity Armenians have to some Europeans as proof that Armenians have European origins. But this genetic affinity is due to the Anatolian Neolithic Farmer gene, which some Europeans, like southern Italians, Spaniards and Romanians, share with some Middle Eastern ethnic groups due to migrations that took place during the Neolithic period thousands of years ago.
During this time, Anatolian farmers spread into Europe, likely sharing their languages along the way. This is also where Indo-European languages like Greek, Albanian, Armenian, Farsi and Kurdish originate from. Armenians are not descendants of Europeans; rather, some Europeans are descendants of former Near Eastern populations. Indo-European does not mean of European origin. There is no doubt that the Near East has had a massive impact on modern Europe, whether it be genetically, linguistically and even culturally.
The conclusion here is that Armenians are genetically, historically and geographically West Asian and Middle Eastern, not European. The rhetoric that Armenians are European continues the genocidal language of the Turkish and Azerbaijani governments, which seek to erase Armenians from Anatolia and the Caucasus and choose to ignore our immense impact in the creation and foundation of the modern Middle East. If we allow this rhetoric to continue, we will lose the historic Armenian identity completely. This false rhetoric also perpetuates the impact of Russian colonization, under which Eastern Armenians begin to believe the notion that they too are Eastern Europeans just like their colonizers. One can strive to adopt Western ideals and still recognize one’s geographic, historic and genetic identity. The two can co-exist. May we remove the distorted lens that occupation has left us with, and may we never forget our roots, our ancestors and our affinity to the cradle of civilization.
Jane Partizpanyan is a journalism and public relations major at California State University, Northridge. She works as a contributing writer for the Daily Sundial. She’s also a public relations coordinator at the Agency 398 PR firm and a published poet.