The first Muslims in the area were the Abbasids in 872 . The Turkish tribes began to pass through in huge numbers following the defeat of the Byzantine armies at Malazgirt in 1071 , sometimes pursued by Mongols . The land was brought into the Ottoman Empire by Sultan Selim I following the Battle of Chaldiran . The region retained a large Armenian population until the Armenian Genocide of 1915
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Ağrı Province