 Armenians from neighboring villages and towns also began to visit the city on a regular basis, and there was even talk by Marr's team of building a school for educating the local Armenian children, building parks, and planting trees to beautify the site.In 1918, during the latter stages of World War I, the armies of the Ottoman Empire were fighting their way across the territory of the newly declared Republic of Armenia, capturing Kars in April 1918.At Ani, attempts were made to evacuate the artifacts contained in the museum as Turkish soldiers were approaching the site.