Editing Islam in Turkey (section)

=== Islamic empires ===
[[File:Map of expansion of Caliphate.svg|thumb|212px|Islamic conquest extended to Anatolia during later [[Abbasid]] period.]]
During the Muslim conquests of the 7th and early 8th centuries, [[Rashidun army|Arab armies]] established the [[Caliphate|Islamic Empire]]. The [[Umayyad Caliphate]] continued the spread of [[Islam]]. The [[Islam]]ic [[Golden Age]] was soon inaugurated by the middle of the 8th century by the ascension of the [[Abbasid]] [[Caliphate]] and the transfer of the capital from [[Damascus]] to [[Baghdad]].<ref name="Vartan">Gregorian, Vartan. ''Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith'', Brookings Institution Press, 2003, pp. 26–38 {{ISBN|0-8157-3283-X}}</ref>
[[File:Selimiye_Mosque_3.JPG|thumb|212px|[[Selimiye Mosque, Edirne|Selimiye Mosque]], [[Edirne]].]]
The later period saw initial expansion and the capture of [[Crete]] (840). The Abbasids soon shifted their attention towards the East. During the later fragmentation of the Abbasid rule and the rise of their [[Shiite]] rivals the [[Fatimid]]s and [[Buyid]]s, a resurgent Byzantium recaptured [[Crete]] and [[Cilicia]] in 961, [[Cyprus]] in 965, and pushed into the Levant by 975. The Byzantines successfully contested with the [[Fatimid]]s for influence in the region until the arrival of the [[Seljuk dynasty|Seljuk Turks]] who first allied with the Abbasids and then ruled as the ''de facto'' rulers.

In 1068, [[Alp Arslan]] and allied [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkoman]] tribes recaptured many Abbasid lands and even invaded Byzantine regions, pushing further into [[Eastern Anatolia Region|eastern]] and [[Central Anatolia Region|central Anatolia]] after a major victory at the [[Battle of Manzikert]] in 1071. The disintegration of the Seljuk dynasty resulted in the rise of subsequent, smaller, rival [[Anatolian beyliks|Turkic kingdoms]] such as the [[Danishmends]], the [[Sultanate of Rum]], and various [[Atabeg]]s who contested the control of the region during the [[Crusade]]s and incrementally expanded across Anatolia until the [[rise of the Ottoman Empire]].
{{further|Byzantine–Seljuk Wars}}