Mehmed is the most common Turkish form of the Arabic name Muhammad and gains its significance from being the name of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. Originally the intermediary vowels in the Arabic Muhammad were completed with an e in adoption to Turkish phonotactics, which spelled Mehemed and the name lost the central e over time. Final devoicing of d to t is a regular process in Turkish. The prophet himself is referred to in Turkish using the archaic version, Muhammed.
