Since the 1040s the highlands have been under the rule of various Turkic peoples and the Safavid dynasty . Much of Eastern Armenia , which had been ruled by the Safavids from the 16th century , came under Russian control in 1828 . While much of Western Armenia was under the rule of the Ottomans and later incorporated into Turkey . The highlands are divided into western and eastern regions , defined by the Ararat Valley where Mount Ararat is located . The region to the west of the Ararat Valley , which was conventionally called " Western Armenia " , is now part of present-day eastern Anatolia , and the region to the east , which was conventionally called " Eastern Armenia , " is now referred to as " Lesser Caucasus " or " Caucasus Minor . " The region was historically mainly inhabited by Armenians , and minorities of Assyrians , Georgians , Greeks , Jews , and Iranians . During the Middle Ages , Arabs and particularly Turkmens and Kurds settled in large numbers in the Armenian Highlands . The Christian population of the western half of the region was exterminated during the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and on a smaller scale the Assyrian Genocide and Greek Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Highlands