First of all the wars between the Ottoman and Safavid Empires were the result of the threat that the Safavids were to the Ottoman Empire and imperialism by both empires. The origins of the war lie with the establishment of the Safavid state. In 1500 Ismail led his Shia warrior sect of Azerbaijan to rebel against the Ak Koyunlu Sultanate.
The source of the conflict between the Ottomans and the Safavids was religious; the Ottomans were sunni, the Safavids were shia, and both the sultan and the shah claimed to be the leader of Islam. As such, Safavid expansion and massacres of Sunni Muslims goaded the Ottomans into action against them.
