WHO IS CAKABEY?
Çakabey (d.1095) was a ruling sovereign of İzmir in the second half of the 11th century (AD)who founded the first Turkish Navy. He is thought to be one of the Cuvuldur branches of the Oguz clan and the head of Danishmend Gazi. As a youth he was improsoned by one of the Byzantine Commanders, Kabalika Aleksandros. Later he was taken to the palace after gaining the attention of Nikephoros Botaniates III .He was awarded the honorary title of 'Nobillissimus'. However, upon the ascension to the throne of Aleksios Commenos I in 1081, Çakabey retreated to Anatolia and became the self-anointed sovereign of Izmir in 1086. Shortly after establishing his own naval fleet, he began taking the regions encompassing modern Foca and Urla. He successively took the islands of Lesbos and Chios after defeating the Byzantine navy commandeered by Niketas Kastomonniates. In 1087 he also captured the islands of Samos and Rhodes. Shortly after he sought to make battle with Constantine Dolassanos in the sea of Marmara, but he was turned back by a storm. From this point on however his fortunes turned and all of his previous conquests eventually fell into Byzantine hands. In 1092, in an effort to make peace with the Anatolian Seljuks ,he married the daughter of KılıçArslan.
In 1095, he captured Abydos, a Byzantine stronghold that secured the Dardanelles and served as a center for customs and frontier control. However, fearing Cakabey's growing prestige, Kılıcarslan I took Abydos for his own. He later killed Cakabey in the course of a diplomatic exchange.