Христиане в Османской Империи. (Christians in Ottoman Empire).
Ottomans deliberately kept the local governments of conquered nations and never considered the religious suppression, as Islam prohibited to limit the religious freedom of people of the book (Christians and Jews).
A few days after conquest of Istanbul Sultan Mehmed suggested Greek clergy to elect the Patriarch. He had dedicated guards of the janissary for his protection. The Patriarch with council took the role of supreme rulers over the Orthodox Christians (Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians, Russians and etc)