Back in Georgia, Tsereteli delivered a speech on 23 February 1918 at the Transcaucasian Centre of Soviets, reporting on the events in Russia. He warned the delegates of the problems dual power had caused, and that the soviet would have to surrender its power to a legislative body. This was established as the "Seim", a "de facto" parliament created the same day. A member of this new body, Tsereteli took up a leading role in helping defend the Transcaucasus, which included Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, from the approaching forces of the Ottoman Empire. He strongly denounced the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which was signed between the Bolshevik government and the Central Powers to end Russia's involvement in the war, as it would have meant ceding important Transcaucasian territories to the Ottoman, such as the Black Sea port city of Batumi. In response to this the Transcaucasus declared war against the Ottoman Empire on 14 April.