How bad off was the strategic situation of the Byzantines in Northwest Anatolia in the 1280s? Could the Northwestern coast of Anatolia have at least been held with more competent emperors? At the time of Michael VIIIs demise, the Byantines still had a very powerful army and a pretty large navy, although it was costing the Treasury a large amount of money, and the Byzantines had not lost any major amount of territory or important cities in Anatolia to the Turks, and the Byzantines have at least held or even slightly improved their position in the European part of the empire.