A region south of the Caucasus in Asia Minor, comprising the Republic of Armenia (see Armenia, Republic of) but also parts of eastern Turkey and northern Iran. Armenian culture dates from the 6th century bc, when people who referred to themselves as the Hay and were descended from the ancient Phrygians founded a civilization on the ruins of the ancient kingdom of Urartu. After successive annexation over 500 years by the Persians, Macedonians (Alexander the Great), and Romans, the kingdom of Armenia reached its height under Tigranes II (95–55bc). Further subjugation by Rome, the Byzantine Empire, Persia, and the Mongol Empire culminated in over two centuries of rule by the Turks, from the early 16th century onwards. In 1828 north‐east Armenia was ceded by the Ottoman Turks to Russia. Agitation for independence developed in both Russian and Turkish Armenia, leading to a series of large‐scale massacres that culminated in the deportation by the Young Turk government of all Turkish Armenians to Syria and Palestine (1915), in which over one million died. A short‐lived independent Transcaucasian Federal Republic, comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, was created in 1917 but collapsed a year later. The separate republic of Armenia lasted from 1918 until 1920 when, following the Battle of Kars, Turkey captured some more Armenian territory. The remainder of Armenia proclaimed itself independent, but was again attacked by Turkey. It then became a Soviet Republic, and joined the Soviet Union. The Transcaucasian Republic was recreated as a Soviet Socialist Republic in 1922, but split in 1936. In Turkish Armenia, Turkish massacres and mass deportations continued until the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) confirmed incorporation of the region into the new republic of Turkey.