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Long History in Brief 39

Russians to control the Caucasus, Armenia
became a battlefield of endless wars. Main-
taining normal relations with these powers,
without jeopardizing the nation's unity and
autonomy, was an acute and permanent
concern for the Armenian political and
religious leadership.

The formation of Armenian Cilicia

Situated on the northeastern corner of
the Mediterranean Sea and enclosed by the
Taurus Mountains in the west and the Ama-
nos Mountains in the east, Cilicia, otherwise
known as Lesser Armenia, became the
second homeland for the Armenian people
and its first organized diaspora. The Ar-
menian presence in Cilicia started to emerge
and take shape in the 10th Century when the
Byzantine Empire encouraged the Armenian
princes to move with their people to Cilicia
in order to defend its southern frontiers
against the invasions of Seljuks. Gradually,
as Armenia was drained of its population,
Cilicia developed into the epicenter of the
Armenian political, religious, and cultural
life. Armenians soon became an integral part
of the pluralistic society of Cilicia, which
included Greeks, Turks, Crusaders, Muslims,
Arabs, Mongols, Seljuks, Assyrians, and
Latins. In Cilicia, in order for the Armenian
nation to survive in the midst of unending