In 1071 AD the Byzantine Empire suffered a considerable defeat at the Battle of Manzikert in Armenia.
This defeat would open the interior of Anatolia to invasion by Central Asian Seljuq Turks who would overrun most of Byzantine Asia Minor.
This began the transformation of Asia Minor from an entirely Christian and overwhelmingly Greek-populated region to a primarily Muslim and Turkish center.
Several Armenian royal families, which included Gagik of Ani and Adom and Abu Sahl of Vaspurakan, sought vengeance on the local Greek Orthodox population after persecutions of the Armenians and Syriac Monophysites by the Byzantines.
They used the opportunity provided by the Seljuq conquest to target the Greeks, they tortured and then assassinated the Greek Orthodox metropolitan of Kayseri and pillaged wealthy Greek owned estates.
The local Greek landowners eventually killed the Armenian royal Gagik.

By the 12th century all of Anatolia was overrun by Turkmen tribes from Central Asia, these invading nomads had cleared many regions of Anatolia of indigenous Greeks.
The Anatolian Greek population rapidly diminished under Turkish rule owing to mass conversions to Islam, slaughter or exile to Greek territories in Europe.
Before the Turkish migration into Anatolia, Greeks as well as smaller numbers of Armenians, Syrians, and Georgians were all Christians, but by the 15th century more than 90% of Anatolia was Muslim, according to some researchers largely because of Christian conversions to Islam.
Many Byzantine Greek leaders were also tempted to convert to Islam in order to join the Ottoman Turkish aristocracy, although in the beginning of the 20th century, the proportion of Christians in Anatolian population was more than 20%.
During the centuries of Turkish rule in Asia Minor many Greeks and other peoples of Anatolia such as Armenians and Kurds adopted the Turkish language, converted to Islam, and came to be identified as Turks.
Despite the turmoil in Anatolia, by the 13th century the Greeks of Cappadocia, Lycaonia and Pamphylia remained numerous, even under the pressure of the Turkmen nomads, possibly constituting majorities in some urban centers.
During this chaotic period there is evidence that some native Cappadocian Greeks had joined the invading Turkish nomads.
Some even managing to rise to levels of prominence in the Seljuq Sultanate of Rum, such as Basil Giagoupes (Bασίλειος Γιαγούπης), a wealthy Cappadocian Greek feudatory lord of a strongly Greek district who held the court title of general (amir arzi) in the army of the Seljuq sultan of Konya, Mesud II.
He dedicated a church in the Peristrema (Belisırma) valley where his portrait, which was painted from life still survives to this day.
13th century Cappadocian Greek artists were renowned for their naturalistic paintings and were employed throughout the Seljuk Empire.
Cappadocian Greeks were also employed as architects, such as Kalo Yianni, who was commissioned to build the Gök Medrese (Sivas) in 1271.

Over the course of the 15th century the Ottoman Turks conquered Cappadocia from the Seljuk Turks, the Cappadocian countryside remained largely Greek populated, with a smaller Armenian population even after the Ottoman conquest.
During the reign of Ottoman Sultan Murad III (1574 to 1595) the region of Cappadocia became largely Turkified in culture and language through a gradual process of acculturation, as a result many Greeks of Cappadocia had accepted the Turkish vernacular and later became known as ‘Karamanlides’.
This name derives from the region of Cappadocia which was called Karaman by the Turks in honor of the Turkish chieftain Karamanoglu, though the Cappadocian Greeks continued to call the region ‘Laranda’, its ancient Greek name.
These Turcophone Greeks lived primarily in the region of Karamania although there were also significant communities in Constantinople and in the region of the Black Sea.
Cappadocian Greeks living in remote less accessible villages of Cappadocia remained Greek-speaking and Christian, as they were isolated and consequently less affected by the rapid
In 1071 AD the Byzantine Empire suffered a considerable defeat at the Battle of Manzikert in Armenia. This defeat would open the interior of Anatolia to invasion by Central Asian Seljuq Turks who would overrun most of Byzantine Asia Minor. This began the transformation of Asia Minor from an entirely Christian and overwhelmingly Greek-populated region to a primarily Muslim and Turkish center. Several Armenian royal families, which included Gagik of Ani and Adom and Abu Sahl of Vaspurakan, sought vengeance on the local Greek Orthodox population after persecutions of the Armenians and Syriac Monophysites by the Byzantines. They used the opportunity provided by the Seljuq conquest to target the Greeks, they tortured and then assassinated the Greek Orthodox metropolitan of Kayseri and pillaged wealthy Greek owned estates. The local Greek landowners eventually killed the Armenian royal Gagik.
By the 12th century all of Anatolia was overrun by Turkmen tribes from Central Asia, these invading nomads had cleared many regions of Anatolia of indigenous Greeks. The Anatolian Greek population rapidly diminished under Turkish rule owing to mass conversions to Islam, slaughter or exile to Greek territories in Europe. Before the Turkish migration into Anatolia, Greeks as well as smaller numbers of Armenians, Syrians, and Georgians were all Christians, but by the 15th century more than 90% of Anatolia was Muslim, according to some researchers largely because of Christian conversions to Islam. Many Byzantine Greek leaders were also tempted to convert to Islam in order to join the Ottoman Turkish aristocracy, although in the beginning of the 20th century, the proportion of Christians in Anatolian population was more than 20%. During the centuries of Turkish rule in Asia Minor many Greeks and other peoples of Anatolia such as Armenians and Kurds adopted the Turkish language, converted to Islam, and came to be identified as Turks. Despite the turmoil in Anatolia, by the 13th century the Greeks of Cappadocia, Lycaonia and Pamphylia remained numerous, even under the pressure of the Turkmen nomads, possibly constituting majorities in some urban centers. During this chaotic period there is evidence that some native Cappadocian Greeks had joined the invading Turkish nomads. Some even managing to rise to levels of prominence in the Seljuq Sultanate of Rum, such as Basil Giagoupes (Bασίλειος Γιαγούπης), a wealthy Cappadocian Greek feudatory lord of a strongly Greek district who held the court title of general (amir arzi) in the army of the Seljuq sultan of Konya, Mesud II. He dedicated a church in the Peristrema (Belisırma) valley where his portrait, which was painted from life still survives to this day. 13th century Cappadocian Greek artists were renowned for their naturalistic paintings and were employed throughout the Seljuk Empire. Cappadocian Greeks were also employed as architects, such as Kalo Yianni, who was commissioned to build the Gök Medrese (Sivas) in 1271.
Over the course of the 15th century the Ottoman Turks conquered Cappadocia from the Seljuk Turks, the Cappadocian countryside remained largely Greek populated, with a smaller Armenian population even after the Ottoman conquest. During the reign of Ottoman Sultan Murad III (1574 to 1595) the region of Cappadocia became largely Turkified in culture and language through a gradual process of acculturation, as a result many Greeks of Cappadocia had accepted the Turkish vernacular and later became known as ‘Karamanlides’. This name derives from the region of Cappadocia which was called Karaman by the Turks in honor of the Turkish chieftain Karamanoglu, though the Cappadocian Greeks continued to call the region ‘Laranda’, its ancient Greek name. These Turcophone Greeks lived primarily in the region of Karamania although there were also significant communities in Constantinople and in the region of the Black Sea. Cappadocian Greeks living in remote less accessible villages of Cappadocia remained Greek-speaking and Christian, as they were isolated and consequently less affected by the rapid
Cappadocian Greeks