Nevertheless, John reached out to make alliances. Donald Nicol lists some of them: the emirs of Sinope and Karaman, and the Christian kings of Georgia.[14] His brother and successor David is thought to have commissioned Michael Aligheri—and possibly the questionable Ludovico da Bologna—to travel to Western Europe in 1460 searching for friends and allies.[15] But the most powerful and reliable ally of the Emperors of Trebizond was the ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu (or White Sheep Turkomen), Uzun Hasan.