The Foreign Service Journal, November 2010

west by Byzantine Greeks and from the east by Seljuk Turks, the kingdom of Armenia collapsed and became the Lesser Armenian Empire, based in Cilicia, on the Mediterranean Sea. On the basis of shared Christian values, Europe propped up Lesser Armenia against the Muslim world. Cilicia held out until 1375 when theMamluk Turks overran it, giving way to the Ottoman Turks in the 1600s. Christian Roots When the Russians annexed Geor- gia in 1801, they began a long cam- paign against the Persians and Otto- mans, incorporating the region around Yerevan in 1828. But Armenia’s expe- rience with the Russians was different. The victory of czarist Russia brought various Armenian communities to- gether under a single administration for the first time in centuries. Moscow also fostered commerce and industry throughout the region be- fore returning to their advance against the Ottoman Empire. In the treaty that ended the Russo-Turkish war (1877-1878), Russia guaranteed the rights of all Armenians still living under Ottoman rule against oppression. Thus began a protective relationship be- tween two Christian peoples that en- dures to this day. N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 53 There are two routes to Yerevan, but because Azerbaijani snipers were active on the road running along the disputed border, the regional security officer had forbidden its use.