Ahmed Fevzi Pasha
Ahmed Fevzi Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: احمد فوزى پاشا; known as "Firari" lit. 'fugitive'; died 1842) was an Ottoman admiral and statesman who served as Kapudan Pasha from 1836 to 1839. He is known for his role in the Churchill affair, and having voluntarily surrendered the Ottoman naval fleet to Muhammad Ali of Egypt in 1839.
Early life[edit]
Details of Ahmed Fevzi's early life are unknown. He was of Greek origin. Born in the island of Crete, he moved to Istanbul at a young age.[1][2] Initially working as a boater, he subsequently entered the Ottoman Navy and rose the ranks to become deputy Kapudan Pasha.
Career[edit]
Churchill incident[edit]
In 1834, Fevzi Pasha was assigned to lead the Ottoman delegation that negotiated the Treaty of Saint Petersburg with the Russian Empire.[3][4] He was subsequently implicated in the Churchill affair, a diplomatic crisis between the Ottoman Empire and Britain, when British officials demanded that he be removed from his post. Most historians agree that this demand arose not from a genuine reaction to Fevzi Pasha's initial refusal to release William Nosworthy Churchill, but a desire to hinder improving Ottoman-Russian relations.[5]
Churchill was British journalist who had been imprisoned in the Tersane-i Amire on the charge of shooting a child while hunting illegally in Kadıköy. Upon being notified of Churchill's imprisonment, the British ambassador Lord Ponsonby demanded his immediate release from Akif Efendi, Ottoman Minister of Foreign Affairs, who initially rejected the demand, but accepted it upon being informed of Churchill's mistreatment, having been beaten by the locals. The request was conveyed to Fevzi Pasha via Esvâbcı Mehmed Ağa, but he rejected it, citing the lack of an official brief (tezkire) from the ministry, as well as the uncertainty of the victim's condition, according to which charges would be pressed.
Subsequently, Lord Ponsonby sent a note to the Ottoman government on 10 May 1836 expressing that Britain did not recognize Akif Efendi's ministership, and separately authored a report on 15 May 1836, addressed to the British government, in which he implicated both Akif and Fevzi Pashas for having received bribes from Russia in relation to the 1834 treaty. On 27 May 1836, Lord Ponsonby held an audience with Serasker Hüsrev Pasha, a personal and political opponent of Fevzi Pasha, where he conveyed the desire of the British government for the removal of both from their offices. Whereas Akif Efendi was retired from his post, either due to or with the pretext of his illness, Fevzi Pasha was promoted to the rank of Kapudan Pasha by Mahmud II on 10 November 1836. Nedim İpek suggests that the British involvement of Fevzi Pasha in the Churchill affair was primarily motivated by a desire to curtail increasing Russian influence over the Ottoman Empire following the 1829 Treaty of Adrianople and 1833 Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi.
Footnotes[edit]
- ^ Gülen, Nejat (2007-09-27). "Şanlı Bahriye: 1773 - 1973". web.archive.org. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
- ^ İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, pp. 172 ff. Türkiye Yayınevi (Istanbul), 1971. (in Turkish)
- ^ Iorga, Nicolae (1948). Osmanlı Tarihi [Ottoman History] (in Turkish). Vol. V. Translated by Baykal, Bekir Sıtkı. Ankara University. p. 378.
- ^ Pınar, Hayrettin (1 February 2013). "Ahmed Fevzi Paşa'nın Petersburg Seyahati ve Petersburg Anlaşması" [The Journey of Ahmed Fevzi Pasha to Petersburg and the Treaty of Petersburg]. Selçuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi (29): 179–189 – via DergiPark.
- ^ Dönmez, Ahmet (24 November 2016). "Babıâli'de Hizip Çatışmaları: Ahmed Fevzi Paşa'nın Osmanlı Donanmasını Mısır Valisine Teslimi Olayı" [Faction Conflicts at the Sublime Porte: the Case of Ahmed Fevzi Pasha's Surrender of the Ottoman Navy to the Governor of Egypt]. Selçuk Üniversitesi Türkiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi (40): 43–57. doi:10.21563/sutad.268916. ISSN 1300-5766 – via DergiPark.
Works cited[edit]
- İpek, Nedim (December 1995). "Churchill Vak'ası" [Churchill affair (1836)]. Belleten. 59 (226): 661–714. doi:10.37879/belleten.1995.661 – via belleten.gov.tr.
