Talk:Battle of Pallene

Pirate
In the sidebox one side is called Turkish pirates. I know that there is a little difference between the navy and the pirate in the history. The Aydınids however fought for a  political cause. They were initially invited by John VI Kantakouzenos during the Byzantine civil war. Logically if the reason of the engagement is politic, than calling Aydınıds pirate is not a balanced opinion. I'll call the editor. Nedim Ardoğa (talk) 13:52, 28 January 2017 (UTC)


 * First of all, it is not clear whose fleet was involved here. You assume it was the Aydinids, who were indeed involved in the Byzantine civil war, but the sources I have used here say nothing of the sort. If you have more info (or if I find more) I will be glad to change this. Until then, the possible political motives of this fleet are unclear. In the absence of this, we are forced to assume that it was one of many Turkish fleets that raided the shores of the Aegean in the 14th century. Political this activity may have been in itself in so far as it was justified in the name of jihad, but prima facie it was simply piracy of the same sort that the Cretan Saracens had practiced in the 9th-10th centuries, and the French and English pirates and privateers, or the Barbary corsairs, practiced in more recent times. "Piracy" of this form was a recognized tool of military art until fairly recently. Constantine  ✍  14:48, 28 January 2017 (UTC)
 * OK, If this fleet was actually a pirates' fleet of ambigiuous origin why did the Crusaders raided Aydınıd territory? Are you going to call the Crusaders fleet Crusader pirates ? Nedim Ardoğa (talk) 15:43, 28 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Don't mix things up. The Smyrniote crusade was targeted against the Turkish raids in general, but the main target was Smyrna, because Umur Bey was the most active in that department. For all we know, the battle of Pallene may have been no more than an incidental policing action, or an operation conducted to secure the Crusade's rear. As for the Crusader fleet, it did not "raid" Turkish territory. It attacked Smyrna, a clear military target of prime importance because it was the main base for the Aydinids. Of course the Latins also raided the Anatolian coasts, and conducted piracy of their own against Turkish shipping on other occasions, until well into the 17th century. But in this case, unless a source can identify them, I really don't see what other name we could give to the defeated party in this battle, other than a descriptive name: they were Turks engaged in piratical raids, hence Turkish pirates. They were certainly not there to distribute candy to the children... Constantine  ✍  16:27, 28 January 2017 (UTC)