Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey

The son of the famed Turahan Bey, he was active chiefly in southern Greece: he fought in the Morea against both the Byzantines in the 1440s and 1450s and against the Venetians in the 1460s, while in 1456, he conquered the Latin Duchy of Athens.

[1][4] The exact date of Ömer's birth is unknown; as a young man, he was presented to the Byzantine envoy George Sphrantzes in 1435,[1] and by 1444 he was old enough to assume his father's duties as uç bey ("marcher-lord") of Thessaly during Turahan's temporary disgrace.

In the same year, Ömer led a raid against the Duchy of Athens, which was falling under the influence of the energetic Byzantine prince Constantine Palaiologos, the ruler of the Despotate of the Morea.

[8] In October 1452, Ömer and his brother accompanied Turahan in another expedition against the Morea, which was designed to prevent the Despotate from assisting in the forthcoming Ottoman attack on the Byzantine capital, Constantinople.

[12] In the same year, the Sultan Mehmed II campaigned in person against the Morea, where the two despots had returned to their quarrels and were negotiating with Western powers for aid against the Ottomans.

[15] In 1459 the despot Thomas rebelled against the Sultan with assistance from Italy, and Ömer was for a time removed from his offices for failing to prevent it, although some contemporary sources suggest that he was himself encouraging the rebellion.

[18] In 1461/1462 Ömer served with distinction in the wars against Vlad III Dracula, Prince of Wallachia: he wiped out a force of 6,000 Wallachians and deposited 2,000 of their heads at the feet of Mehmed II.

The Venetians refused to hand him back, and in retaliation, Ömer attacked the port town of Lepanto (Nafpaktos) in November 1462 but failed to capture it.

[22] In the weeks after their declaration of war on 28 July 1463, the Venetians made good progress in the Morea, occupying most of the peninsula, and laid siege to the Acrocorinth in early autumn.

Ömer Bey returned from Bosnia and marched to relieve the siege, but did not attempt to breach the Hexamilion wall due to the presence of numerous Venetian cannons and the small size of his own army.

Following the Ottoman conquest of Negroponte (Chalkis) in July after a long and bloody siege, Ömer led an army of 25,000 in the Morea, where he quickly conquered Vostitza (Aigion).

[1][34] Finally, in 1478 he captured the fortress of Scutari (Shkodër) in Albania,[4] which along with the conquest of Krujë by Mehmed II ended the League of Lezhë and Albanian independence.