The Battle of Bitlis refers to a series of engagements in the summer of 1916 for the town of
Bitlis
Bitlis ( or ; ) is a city in southeastern Turkey. It is the seat of Bitlis District and Bitlis Province.Muş, between Russian Imperial forces and their Ottoman counterparts. The town was the last stronghold of the Ottoman Empire preventing the Russians from entering Anatolia and Mesopotamia.
Part of the battle is known as Battle of Muş
The first military confrontation at Bitlis occurred in July 1915, when Russian troops launched an unsuccessful assault on the town's fortifications. The second confrontation began in February 1916 and ended with the capture of Bitlis by new Russian corps, which largely consisted of the 1st Battalion of the Armenian volunteer units under the command of Andranik Ozanian. The Allied withdrawal from
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east.
Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...
gave opportunity for Turkish forces to redeploy to the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
region. Russian commander Nikolai Yudenich intended to attack the Turks before they could organize their forces to launch an attack. After a series of clashes in Koprukoy,
Erzurum
Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...
, Muş, the Russian IV Caucasian Corps captured Bitlis on 2-3 March, 1,000 more prisoners were taken in the city.
The Ottoman troops of Ahmed Izzet Pasha were composed of veterans from the Gallipoli campaign. They were to outflank the Russians in Bitlis before the end of March, but communications were terrible, and troops had to march from Ankara for a month. The Turkish Second Army's (belated) offensive began on 2 August 1916 and successfully took back Bitlis (and Muş) but lost other territories in the Euphrates region to the Russians. On 24 August, the Russian forces had recaptured both Mush and Bitlis. The Ottomans suffered 34,000 casualties, around half of which were POWs.