Armenag Salmaslian was born on December 10, 1888, in Mkhalich, a village near Brusa (Bursa), in Turkey. He studied at the Berberian College in Constantinople between 1900 and 1906, followed by his studies at the Robert College (1906–1911).
He pursued higher education at the School of Law of the University of Paris and graduated in 1914. He published his book The Clause of the Most Favored Nation (1921, in French) and obtained a doctorate in jurisprudence in 1922.