hrough his foreign policy, Michael VIII clearly showed interest in the western acquisitions of the Empire, as he turned his attention entirely on the confrontation of the state's enemies from the West, leaving the eastern provinces at the mercy of Turkish invasions. Apart from the powerful Western rival, two other facts led Michael VIII to this attitude; the people of the Eastern provinces reacted strongly to his policy of union of the Churches, and to John IV Laskaris being blinded (1261). He was a minor, whose throne had been usurped by Palaiologos. The people of the region could not of course forget the prosperity that they had known during the reign of the Laskaris family.

In order to fight the reaction, Michael VIII imposed heavy taxes on the Byzantine people of Asia Minor, abolished the exemption for frontiersmen, that is the local soldiers who guarded the eastern borders of the state, whom he replaced with foreign mercenaries. As a result of these measures, the inhabitants of Asia Minor could not pay the taxes, so they had even recourse to the Turks for help, while the defence system gradually started to collapse. Until 1278, the Turks expanded their domination over the entire South East Asia Minor. Out of concern for the potential loss of Bithynia, which was vital to the Empire, Michael ordered, towards the end of his reign, fortifications to be built in the area. He actually went there himself, in 1280, in order to supervise the work, and only then did he realize how much the area had been abandoned. But he did not hesitate to attribute this misfortune to everyone who had reacted against his religious policy.