By the beginning of 1918, the Russian troops had actually left the Caucasian Front, and their positions were occupied by the Armenian Corps, the formation of which had not yet been completed. On February 12, two weeks before the convocation of the Transcaucasian Seim, Turkish troops, taking advantage of the collapse of the front and violating the conditions of the December 1917 Armistice, launched a large–scale offensive in the Erzurum, Van and Primorsky directions. Almost immediately, on February 13, Erzincan was occupied by them, and on February 24 – Trebizond. Under the onslaught of superior enemy forces, the scattered Armenian units retreated, covering the crowds of Western Armenian refugees leaving with them.