Ahmed Köprülü (1635-1676), in full Köprülüzade Fazil Ahmed Pasha, was a Turkish statesman and general under whose direction the Ottoman Empire enjoyed a last burst of dynamism and military expansion, before the slow decline and the Turkish retreat through the Balkans.

Ahmed Köprülü was born at Vezir Köprü in northern Anatolia. His father, Mehmed Köprülü, was probably of Albanian descent. He had risen from humble origins to become grand vizier in 1656 and, during his tenure of office, had renewed the war against the Venetians in the Aegean Sea and against Christian and Moslem enemies alike in central Europe and the Islamic lands.

Ahmed succeeded his dead father as vizier in 1661 at the age of 26 and, until his own death, remained in that office for...