On 15 January 1912, the Ottoman parliament dissolved and political campaigns began almost immediately. Andranik Ozanian participated in the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913 alongside general Garegin Nzhdeh as a commander of Armenian auxiliary troops. Andranik met revolutionist Boris Sarafov and the two pledged to work jointly for the oppressed peoples of Armenia and Macedonia. Andranik participated in the First Balkan War alongside Garegin Nzhdeh as a Chief Commander of 12th Battalion of Lozengrad Third Brigade of the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan militia under the command of Colonel Aleksandar Protogerov. His detachment consisted of 273 Armenian volunteers. On 5 May 1912, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation officially severed the relations with the Ottoman government; a public declaration of the Western Bureau printed in the official announcement was directed to "Ottoman Citizens." The June issue of Droshak ran an editorial about it. Shortly after the war started, rumours surfaced that Armenians fighting together with the Bulgarians near Kavala had massacred Muslims. There were overwhelming numbers of Armenians who served the Empire units with distinction during Balkan wars. The ARF quickly disproved 273 Armenian volunteers of Macedonian-Adrianopolitan militia from killing Muslims by pointing out that there were no Armenian names in the list of those accused and published telegrams and testimonials from the Armenians in the Ottoman units.