 By that time , the Byzantines had captured Arsamosata and additional strategically important locations in the mountains of southwest Armenia , posing a direct threat to the Muslim emirates around Lake Van . To reverse the situation , in 940 Sayf al @-@ Dawla initiated a remarkable campaign : starting from <unk> ( Byzantine Martyropolis ) , he crossed the Bitlis pass into Armenia , where he seized several fortresses and accepted the submission of the local lords , both Muslim and Christian . He ravaged the Byzantine holdings around Theodosiopolis and raided as far as Koloneia , which he besieged until Kourkouas arrived with a relief army and forced him to withdraw . Sayf al @-@ Dawla was not able to follow up on this effort : until 945 , the Hamdanids were preoccupied with internal developments in the Caliphate and with fighting against their rivals in southern Iraq and the Ikhshidids in Syria . 
