page_title: Byzantine–Seljuq wars
section_title: Byzantine counter-attack: 1118–1176
hierarchical_section_title: Byzantine–Seljuq wars / Byzantine counter-attack: 1118–1176
context_page_description: The Byzantine–Seljuq Wars were a series of decisive battles that shifted the balance of power in Asia Minor and Syria from the Byzantine Empire to the Seljuqs. Riding from the steppes of Central Asia, the Seljuq replicated tactics practiced by the Huns hundreds of years earlier against a similar Roman opponent but now combining it with new-found Islamic zeal; in many ways, the Seljuq resumed the conquests of the Muslims in the Byzantine–Arab Wars initiated by the Rashidun, Umayyad and Abassid Caliphate in the Levant, North Africa and Asia Minor.
  Today, the Battle of Manzikert is widely seen as the moment when the Byzantines lost the war against the Turks; however the Byzantine military was of questionable quality before 1071 with regular Turkish incursions overrunning the failing theme system. Even after Manzikert, Byzantine rule over Asia Minor did not end immediately, nor were any heavy concessions levied by the Turks on their opponents – it took another 20 years before the Turks were in control of the entire Anatolian peninsula and not for long either.
caption: John II Comnenus, Byzantium's greatest military leader since Basil II. John was able to exploit the weakness of the Turks using the still fragile state and army he had inherited from his father
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