Anatolian Geography and the Initial Migration of Turks: A Comprehensive Study

The initial migration of the Turkish tribes to Anatolia, post the Battle of Manzikert, during the 11th century had significant socio-economic consequences on the Anatolian geography and its inhabitants. The basis of present-day Turkish settlement, Anatolia's vast and resource-rich lands, became a key attraction for the Turks after their settlement in Anatolia, leading to the subsequent Seljuk and Ottoman conquests. This migratory movement of the Turkish tribes is of great significance in Turkish history. However, most of the previous studies on this subject are limited to consideration of precious historical resources. The footprints left by humanity throughout history are the lands, settlements, cities, rivers, mountains, lakes, the religions and ideologies created in these lands, and the cultures that developed there. The intense evolutionary process that began with the "Great Eurasian Migrations" and extended to the "Times of Great Empires" periods shaped especially many geographical features of the Anatolian region. Since every culture and civilization finds suitable geographical spaces for its development as a civilization, Anatolia was always an attractive land for Asian, Middle-Eastern, and European peoples. In this regard, every ethnic, cultural, and ideological settlement starting from the west of Anatolia and extending towards the east of Anatolia is of great importance. As a fundamental element of Turkish history, the approach of Turkish tribes to these lands and the relocation of Central Asian nomadic peoples to Anatolia are of secondary significance. Widely known as Türkiye, Anatolia geographically is the part of Asia lying south of the Black Sea in the northwest to the Mediterranean Sea in the south, west of the Aegean Sea, and east of the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus Strait. Culturally, it is the historical homeland of the Turks. However, Turks first migrated to these lands during the Byzantine era and settled here after the Battle of Manzikert, fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Great Seljuk Empire in 1071 AD. The migration of Turkish tribes to Anatolia occupied an important place in Turkish history. After the arrival of the Turkish tribes in Anatolia, the geography and the peoples living in it underwent massive socio-economic transformations. The vast and fertile Anatolian geography, which is the essential basis of the Turkish settlement in Anatolia, has great and rich agricultural lands. After the Turkish settlement in Anatolia, price increases in the Rumelia region, which was a significant part of the Byzantine Empire based in the western part of the declining Byzantine Empire, started to attract the attention of the Turks, and re-invaded the plains and coasts of Anatolia. Nevertheless, these works are far away from concern and appreciation of the geographical situation of Anatolia which the Turkish tribes to be settled.