The Armenian National Council declared the independence of the Armenian provinces on 28 May 1918. It was recognized by the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Batum on 4 June 1918. After its defeat in World War I, the Ottoman Empire and the Allies signed the Armistice of Mudros by which the Turkish troops left the Caucasus and by 1919 the Republic of Armenia established control over the former Kars Oblast, the city of Iğdır and its surrounding territory, including Mount Ararat.