Reacting to the Imeretian upheaval, the Ottoman government promised the crown to Giorgi VII, the younger brother of the murdered king Simon, then residing at Akhaltsikhe. Ishak, governor of Çıldır, was ordered to conduct Giorgi to his kingdom and preparations for a major military expedition were set in train. While a civil war and break in dynastic succession in Imereti as well as unilateral acts on part of the western Georgian rulers were not uncommon, the massive military response was a change in the Ottomans' policy in Georgia, further dictated by the necessity of consolidating control over the fluid frontier zone against the background of recent losses in Europe and increased activity of the Russians on the Black Sea; Tsar Peter I had succeeded in conquering the Ottoman fortress of Azov and was looked upon by many in Georgia with hope.