The Ottoman port cities cannot be conceived of as an Other of their hinterland. They were tied to them economically, infrastructurally, and socially. However, outside of the well-policed cities, the danger of non-state sanctioned violence, especially banditry focusing on abduction and ransoming wealthy residents and foreigners, posed a threat to the socioeconomic order of the port cities and their respective ties to theoverseas powers. However, ultimately they must be seen as attempts to opt in on the profits from the Thalassocentric order, rather than an attempt to replace it.