Editing John II Komnenos (section)

===War of attrition against the Anatolian Turks (1119–20, 1130–35, 1139–40)===
{{main|Byzantine-Seljuq Wars}}
{{Campaignbox Byzantine-Seljuk War}}
[[File:Ince minare sculpture 1.jpg|thumb|right|Seljuq period architectural fragment from Konya, showing Seljuq appropriation of the [[double-headed eagle]] often associated with Byzantium. [[Ince Minaret Medrese|Ince Minare Museum]], Konya. The naturalism of the sculpture looks more Greek than Syrian or Iranian in workmanship.]]

Early in John's reign the Turks were pressing forward against the Byzantine frontier in western Asia Minor. In 1119, the Seljuqs had cut the land route to the city of [[Antalya|Attaleia]] on the southern coast of Anatolia. John&nbsp;II and Axouch the Grand Domestic [[Siege of Laodicea (1119)|besieged]] and recaptured [[Laodicea on the Lycus|Laodicea]] in 1119 and [[Siege of Sozopolis|took]] [[Sozopolis, Pisidia|Sozopolis]] by storm in 1120, re-opening land communication with Attaleia.{{sfn|Holt|Lambton|Lewis|1995|p=240}} This route was especially important as it also led to Cilicia and the Crusader states of Syria.<ref name="Angold 1984, p. 153"/>

Following the end of hostilities with Hungary, John was able to concentrate on Asia Minor during most of his remaining years. He undertook annual campaigns against the [[Danishmendid]] emirate in [[Malatya]] (Melitene) on the upper [[Euphrates]] from 1130 to 1135. Thanks to his energetic campaigning, Turkish attempts at expansion in Asia Minor were halted, and John prepared to take the fight to the enemy. In order to restore the region to Byzantine control, he led a series of well planned and executed campaigns against the Turks, one of which resulted in the reconquest of the ancestral home of the Komnenoi at [[Kastamonu]] (Kastra Komnenon); he then left a garrison of 2,000 men at [[Gangra]]. John quickly earned a formidable reputation as a wall-breaker, taking one stronghold after another from his enemies. Regions that had been lost to the empire since the [[Battle of Manzikert]] were recovered and garrisoned. Yet resistance, particularly from the Danishmends of the northeast, was strong, and the difficult nature of holding the new conquests is illustrated by the fact that Kastamonu was recaptured by the Turks even as John was in Constantinople celebrating its return to Byzantine rule. John persevered, however, and Kastamonu soon changed hands once more.<ref name="Choniates, pp. 12-13"/><ref>Kinnamos, pp. 20–21</ref><ref>Angold (1984), p. 155</ref>

In the spring of 1139, the emperor campaigned with success against Turks, probably nomadic Turkomans, who were raiding the regions along the [[Sakarya River|Sangarios River]], striking their means of subsistence by driving off their herds.<ref>Choniates, p. 19</ref> He then marched for the final time against the [[Danishmends|Danishmend Turks]], his army proceeding along the southern coast of the [[Black Sea]] through [[Bithynia]] and [[Paphlagonia]]. The breakaway Byzantine regime of [[Constantine Gabras]] in [[Trabzon|Trebizond]] was ended, and the region of [[Chaldia]] brought back under direct imperial control. John then besieged but failed to take the city of [[Neocaesarea]], in 1140. The Byzantines were defeated by the conditions rather than by the Turks: the weather was very bad, large numbers of the army's horses died, and provisions became scarce.<ref>Choniates, pp. 20–21</ref><ref name="AD-1139">J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Decline and Fall'', 82</ref><ref name="Angold 1984, p. 157">Angold (1984), p. 157</ref>