Six vilayets in the context of Erzurum vilayet

Van Province (Turkish: Van ili, Kurdish: Parezgêha Wanê, Armenian: Վանի մարզ) is a province and metropolitan municipality in the Eastern Anatolian region of Turkey, between Lake Van and the Iranian border. Its area is 20,921 km, and its population is 1,128,749 (2022). Its adjacent provinces are Bitlis to the west, Siirt to the southwest, Şırnak and Hakkâri to the south, and Ağrı to the north. The capital of the province is the city of Van, with a population of 525,016 as of 2022. The second-largest city is Erciş, with 92,945 inhabitants in 2022. The province was part of ancient province of Vaspurakan and is considered to be one of the cradles of Armenian civilization. Before the Armenian genocide, Van Province was one of the six Armenian vilayets. A majority of the population of the province is Kurdish and considered part of Turkish Kurdistan.

Ağrı Province (Turkish: Ağrı ili, Armenian: Արարատ մարզ, Kurdish: Parêzgeha Agirîyê) is located in eastern Turkey, bordering Iran to the east and the provinces of Kars to the north, Erzurum to the northwest, Muş and Bitlis to the southwest, Van to the south, and Iğdır to the northeast. Its area is 11,099 km, and its population is 511,238 (2023). The provincial capital is Ağrı, situated on a 1,650 metres (5,410 ft) high plateau. Doğubayazıt was the capital of the province until 1946. The current governor is Mustafa Koç.

The province is considered part of Western Armenia and was part of the ancient province of Ayrarat of Kingdom of Armenia. Before the Armenian genocide, modern Ağri Province was part of the six Armenian vilayets. The majority of the province's population are ethnic Kurds.

Bitlis Province (Turkish: Bitlis ili; Armenian: Բաղեշի մարզ, romanized: Bagheshi marz; Kurdish: Parêzgeha Bidlîsê) is a province of eastern Turkey, located to the west of Lake Van. It takes its name from the central city, Bitlis. Its area is 8,294 km, and its population is 353,988 (2022). The province was part of Moxoene of the Kingdom of Armenia. Before the Armenian genocide, the area was part of the Six Armenian Vilayets and considered part of Western Armenia by Armenians. The province is considered part of Turkish Kurdistan and has a Kurdish majority. The current Governor of the province is Erol Karaömeroğlu.

Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) was a militant organization active between 1975 and the 1990s whose stated goal was "to compel the Turkish Government to acknowledge publicly its responsibility for the Armenian genocide in 1915, pay reparations, and cede territory for an Armenian homeland." ASALA itself and other sources described it as a guerilla and armed organization. Some sources, including the United States Department of State, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan listed it as a terrorist organization.

The principal goal of ASALA was to establish a United Armenia that would include the formerly Armenian-inhabited six vilayets of the Ottoman Empire (Western Armenia) and Soviet Armenia. The group sought to claim the area (called Wilsonian Armenia) that was promised to the Armenians by American President Woodrow Wilson in the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres, following the Armenian genocide, during which Ottoman Turks murdered 1.5 million Armenians, which Turkey openly denies.

The Vilayet of Mamuret-ul-Aziz, also referred to as Harput Vilayet (Armenian: Խարբերդի վիլայեթ Kharberdi Vilayet’) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was also one of the Six vilayets. The vilayet was located between Euphrates and Murat river valleys. To the northwest was Sivas Vilayet.