and reconstruction of the buildings and fortifications was begun by Caliph Umar II, who also ransomed the inhabitants from the Byzantines. His successor, Yazid II, improved the fortifications and reinforced the Muslim garrison.
In the late 10th century, the Byzantines, under Emperor Nikephoros II, began taking advantage of the confusion and instability in the late Abbasid era, seizing parts of the Islamic territory. In 970, Latakia fell, but in 980, the Fatimids captured the town and its Byzantine governor, Karmaruk, was later beheaded in Cairo. Finally, late in the century, it fell to the Turks under the suzerainty of Banu Munqidh of Shaizar, who ceded it to the Seljuk sultan Malik Shah I in 1086. However, many of Latakia's great public buildings were already in ruins by then.
Ottoman rule
Latakia came under Ottoman control after 1516 and was part of Ottoman Syria. The city continued to decline, and by the middle of the sixteenth century, the town had become a small dependent village. In Ottoman times, Latakia was noted for its cotton, olives, walnuts, mulberry trees and vineyards.
In the early eighteenth century, Latakia was governed by Yasin Bey and subject to the Sanjak of Tripoli, but a major uprising in the town resulted in his and his family's removal from authority. A new mosque, Masjid al-Jadid, was erected by the Ottoman governor of Damascus between 1733 and 1743. In 1810 and 1823, earthquakes caused major damage in the town and other coastal areas of Syria.
Despite losing its prominence as an important town, the port itself continued to remain extremely active and economically valuable. The port was receiving more than 100 ships annually in 1835, but the harbor itself was silted up and could only contain between four or six small boats. By the end of the nineteenth century, it received around 120 steamships and around 570 sailboats annually, most of which could only anchor outside of the harbor
