Editing Mehmed II (section)

===Crimean policy (1475)===
{{Main|Crimean Khanate}}
A number of [[Turkic peoples]], collectively known as the [[Crimean Tatars]], had been inhabiting the peninsula since the early [[Middle Ages]]. After the destruction of the [[Golden Horde]] by [[Timur]] earlier in the 15th century, the Crimean Tatars founded an independent [[Crimean Khanate]] under [[Hacı I Giray]], a descendant of [[Genghis Khan]].

The Crimean Tatars controlled the steppes that stretched from the [[Kuban]] to the [[Dniester River]], but they were unable to take control over the commercial [[Genoa|Genoese]] towns called [[Gazaria (Genoese colonies)]], which had been under Genoese control since 1357. After the conquest of Constantinople, Genoese communications were disrupted, and when the Crimean Tatars asked for help from the Ottomans, they responded with an invasion of the Genoese towns, led by [[Gedik Ahmed Pasha]] in 1475, bringing [[Feodosiya|Kaffa]] and the other trading towns under their control.<ref name="Subtelny">{{Cite book|title=Ukraine: A History|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|year=2000|isbn=0-8020-8390-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/ukrainehistory00subt_0/page/78 78]|author=Subtelny, Orest|author-link=Orest Subtelny|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/ukrainehistory00subt_0/page/78}}</ref> After the capture of the Genoese towns, the Ottoman Sultan held [[Meñli I Giray]] captive,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.avalanchepress.com/Soldier_Khan.php |title=Soldier Khan |publisher=Avalanchepress.com |access-date=17 September 2013 |archive-date=1 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120801113659/http://www.avalanchepress.com/Soldier_Khan.php |url-status=live }}</ref> later releasing him in return for accepting Ottoman suzerainty over the Crimean Khans and allowing them to rule as [[Vassal and tributary states of the Ottoman Empire|tributary princes of the Ottoman Empire]].<ref name="Subtelny"/> However, the Crimean khans still had a large amount of autonomy from the Ottoman Empire, while the Ottomans directly controlled the southern coast.