For Lomakin's defeat at the same place in 1879 see Battle of Geok Tepe (1879) The Battle of Geok Tepe in 1881 was the main event in the 1880/81 Russian campaign to conquer the Tekke Turkomans. Its effect was to give the Russian Empire control over most of what is now Turkmenistan, thereby nearly completing the Russian conquest of Central Asia. Skobelev marched from the southeast corner of the Caspian Sea and spent most of the summer and fall building up supplies north ot the Kopet Dagh mountains. In December he marched southwest, besieged Geok Tepe for a month and took it by blowing up a mine under its walls. He was accused of excessive slaughter after the battle.