In the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 , Ararat came to represent the destruction of the native Armenian population of eastern Turkey ( Western Armenia ) in the national consciousness of Armenians . Ari L. Goldman noted in 1988 , " In most Armenian homes in the modern diaspora , there are pictures of Mount Ararat , a bittersweet reminder of the homeland and national aspirations . " Ararat has become a symbol of Armenian efforts to reclaim its " lost lands " , i.e. the areas west of Ararat that are now part of Turkey that had significant Armenian population before the genocide . Adriaans noted that Ararat is featured as a sanctified territory for the Armenians in everyday banal irredentism . Stephanie Platz wrote , " Omnipresent , the vision of Ararat rising above Yerevan and its outskirts constantly reminds Armenians of their putative ethnogenesis … and of their exile from Eastern Anatolia after the Armenian genocide of 1915 . " Turkish political scientist Bayram Balci argues that regular references to the Armenian Genocide and Mount Ararat " clearly indicate " that the border with Turkey is contested in Armenia . Since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 , the Armenian government has not made official claims to any Turkish territory , however the Armenian government has avoided " an explicit and formal recognition of the existing Turkish-Armenian border . " In a 2010 interview with '' Der Spiegel '' , Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan was asked whether Armenia wants " Mount Ararat back . " Sargsyan , in response , said that " No one can take Mount Ararat from us ; we keep it in our hearts . Wherever Armenians live in the world today , you will find a picture of Mount Ararat in their homes . And I feel certain that a time will come when Mount Ararat is no longer a symbol of the separation between our peoples , but an emblem of understanding . But let me make this clear : Never has a representative of Armenia made territorial demands . Turkey alleges this — perhaps out of its own bad conscience ? " The most prominent party to lay claims to eastern Turkey is the nationalist Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( Dashnaktsutyun ) . which claims it as part of what it considers United Armenia . In various settings , several notable individuals such as German historian Tessa Hofmann , Slovak conservative politician František Mikloško , Lithuanian political scientist and Soviet dissident Aleksandras Štromas have spoken in support of Armenian claims over Mt. Ararat
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Mount Ararat