Ahmed Izzet Pasha
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.