What factors contributed to the power of the Greek Orthodox Church in the Ottoman Empire?

The Ottoman Empire was highly decentralized. Power was subcontracted to local groups, who were allowed to maintain their own religions, culture, language and laws to a very high degree, as long as they paid taxes to the central authority, and didn’t openly rebel against it. This allowed the Ottomans to assimilate a large number of very diverse groups of peoples under their loose administration. The Greek Orthodox Church had been a very powerful force for many centuries in many of the areas that came under Ottoman control, so, quite naturally, they were happy and willing to designate considerable authority to it, in order to maintain peace within their vast empire. In addition, unlike the Church of Rome, the Greek Orthodox Church had always been clearly subservient to the Byzantine Emperors, so, there was no particular problem with them submitting to the Ottoman Emperor, as they had submitted to the Byzantine Emperors previously. https://www.quora.com/unanswered/What-factors-contributed-to-the-power-of-the-Greek-Orthodox-Church-in-the-Ottoman-Empire