Belek Ghazi

His father was Behram and his grandfather was Artuk, an important figure of the Seljuk Empire in the 11th century. He was a short-term governor of Suruç (now a district center in Şanlıurfa Province of Turkey). During the First Crusade, the crusaders captured the city in 1098. He took part in the Seljuk expedition to Antakya which was recently lost to Crusaders. But the campaign ended in failure.

In 1112 Belek captured Harput (an ancient city near to present day Elâzığ in Turkey) from Mengüceks.(The beylik of Mengüceks was an early Anatolian beylik). He founded a beylik.[1] This beylik is now known as the Harput branch of the Artukids (the other two being the Hasankeyf branch of Sökmen and Mardin branch of Ilghazi). Next year he married to Ayşe Hatun, widow of Anatolian Seljuk sultan Kılıç Arslan I. By this prestigious marriage, he formed family ties with the Seljuk family.[2]

In 1120, Belek together with Danishmends defeated a coalition of Mengüceks and Constantine Gabras of the Byzantine Empire.[3] Two years later, after the death of Ilghazi, Belek became the leader of the Artukids.[4] In 1122 he defeated the forces of the County of Edessa and took Joscelin I as captive. The next year, Baldwin II of Jerusalem too was captured by Belek. These two victories gained Belek fame both in Muslim countries and in Europe.[2] From 1123-1124, Belek served as emir of Aleppo.

In 1124 he was invited to defend Tyre, the only port the Muslims used in Syria against the attacking Crusaders. During the fighting he was killed on 6 May 1124.[2] Shortly after his death Harput was annexed by the Artukids of Hasankeyf. Nevertheless, in 1185 another beylik was founded by Artukids in Harput.

• Yücel, Yaşar; Sevim, Ali (1990). Türkiye Tarihi Cilt I. Ankara: AKDTYK Yayınları.
• Gurur. "Belek Gazi hayatı". Bilgi Dünyası. Retrieved 2015. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)