title: Mehmed II
abstract: Mehmed II, considered the true founder of the Ottoman Empire, consolidated Turkish Ottoman rule of the eastern Mediterranean and established the political and cultural character of an empire that was to last until the twentieth century. Mehmed fought against Venice from 1463 to 1479, continued the conquest of Greece, and conquered the Crimea and Albania. Mehmed established the Ottoman Turks as leaders within the Muslim world, a role that expanded under future sultans who had the strength and vis