Islam in Anatolia during the XI-XIIIth centuries

Due to its geopolitical importance Anatolia had attracted the interests of many nations throughout the history, witnessed countless invasions, and affected by various religions and cultures. However, none of such invasions and cultural changes has had deeper marks as Oghuz invasion induced Turkization and Islamizing of Anatolia, which stared in the XIth century. With this Oghuz expansion extending to the West from the Eastern Anatolia and insuring the ruling of Turks on the entire Minor Asia territory, Anatolia became the homeland of Turks and a territory of Islam. The existence Seljuk and Ottoman States and even the Republic of Turkey is indeed related to this immigration fact.Crowded Turkmen groups came to Anatolia of which its population had decreased to a great extent due to the continued wars, with the conquests of Seljuks, and the migrants settled at the territories immediately, and set their dominance on the Minor Asia of the Byzantine particularly starting from the Eastern and Central Anatolian. In this manner the ethnic face of Anatolia was changed in favor of the Turks. Turkization is the product of this change.Keyword(s)1-Anatolia2-Turkization3-Islam4-Anatolian Seljuk5-XIth-XIIIth Centuries