Özet:

Çağrı Bey, a leader of the Great Seljuks, launched Eastern Anatolia Campaign in the first quarter of the 11th century, which marked the beginning of a 60-year period of Anatolian raids until the Seljuk conquest of Anatolia. Following the campaign, Çağrı Bey envisioned to make Anatolia a homeland for the Turk, as he did not observe any visible powers that could resist to them in the region. Considering Anatolia a fairly easy location for conquest, until the Battle of Manzikert, the Turk organized several military raids against the region for different reasons such as jihad, spoils of war and expeditions. During these raids, Seljuk victory at the Battle of Kapetron in 1048 and Turkish conquest of Ani in 1064 were important military achievements for the Seljuk state, which was followed by the victory at the Battle of Manzikert against the Byzantine Empire in 1071. Thus, the Seljuk took the first step to turn Anatolia into a Turkish territory. After the Battle of Manzikert, both Alp Arslan and Melikshah adopted effective conquest and settlement policies to turn Anatolia into a Turkish homeland in a very short period of time. The Crusaders were unable to remove the Turk from Anatolia. The Byzantine Empire acknowledged Turkish sovereignty over Anatolia after Turkish victory at the Battle of Myriokephalon. The conquests following the Battle of Manzikert initiated Turkish history which would continue until the present day. The present study focuses on Seljuk policies in Anatolia as a Turkish territory and the roles of first Anatolian principalities in this process.

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