He was appointed as the court calligrapher (nisanci, Turkish: nişancı)[2] and he contributed to the kanunname of Mehmed II, a series of laws regularising the Ottoman Empire.
Karamani Mehmet's appointment as grand vizier in 1476, therefore marks a notable exception, for he was a Turk from the recently conquered Karamanid territory in Anatolia.
In the Ottoman Empire, it was the duty of the Grand Viziers to delay the announcement of a Sultan's death before the claimant to throne arrived in the capital, in order to avoid chaos.
Karamani Mehmet sent messengers to both princes,[5] but as Karaman was nearer to the capital, Cem had a better chance to reach it before his elder brother.
Nevertheless, the Janissaries who were supporting Bayezid learned about the Sultan's death and they further suspected that Karamani Mehmet was backing Cem.