Keçecizade Fuat Pasha...
During Sultan Aziz's visit to Paris, French Emperor Napoleon III lists his demands to Foreign Minister Fuat Pasha...
The Suez Canal should be opened; Crete should be taken from the Ottomans and given to Greece; the administration of the Catholic holy places in Jerusalem should be entrusted to the French...
Knowing that the Ottoman state would not easily consent to these demands, the Emperor makes a veiled threat:
"These troubles are a burden to you... Cast them off your weary shoulders... The whole world knows how weak your state has become."
Fuat Pasha replies with a laugh:
"Your Majesty, can you show your humble servant any other state that has withstood, for three hundred years, your relentless destruction from without and ours from within! Yes, for three hundred years, you from the outside and we from the inside have failed to bring this state down!"
Ottoman Grand Vizier (Istanbul 1815 - Nice 1869). Son of the poet Keçecizâde İzzet Molla. He graduated from the Imperial School of Medicine (1835). Keçecizade Fuat Pasha was without doubt foremost among the celebrated figures of the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz. Appointed Grand Vizier twice and Minister of Foreign Affairs five times, this statesman was renowned for his wit.
Another of his famous distinctions is that he founded Galatasaray High School. He was, after all, known as a supporter of France — a Francophile. Scheduled ferry services in the waters of Istanbul (especially on both shores of the Bosphorus) began with the steamers of Şirket-i Hayriye, founded in 1851 with the support of Grand Vizier Reşit Pasha and through the efforts of Keçecizade Fuat Pasha and the historian Ahmet Cevdet Pasha. The car ferries "Suhulet" and "Sahilbent", put into service between Üsküdar and Kabataş in 1867-1872, were the first car ferries ever to operate in the world.
Let us say a little more about Keçecizade Fuat Pasha, one of the most important statesmen of the Ottoman Empire. While Sultan Aziz was meeting Queen Victoria in London, the Queen showed Fuat Pasha the diamond earrings she was wearing:
"This was a gift to me from His Majesty's elder brother, Sultan Abdülmecid. It was a brooch; I wore it on my chest for a while, then gave it to a jeweler and had it made into earrings — I wonder, would he be offended with me?"
Fuat Pasha did not miss the opportunity:
"On the contrary, sir, they would be pleased — for you always lend an ear to whatever comes from Turkey!"
Again as Charles Mismaire writes, he heard this from Kani Pasha, the Minister of Customs. The State Treasury could no longer bear Sultan Aziz's extravagance. Ali Pasha and Fuat Pasha went before the Sultan and asked for sacrifice from "the owner of the realm and the nation"!
Sultan Aziz frowned:
"So, Pasha, shall we send the golden bowls the sultanas drink from to the mint, and give them copper bowls instead?"
Fuat Pasha never minced his words:
"My Sultan, if disaster befalls us and you retreat in our midst toward the Konya Plain, will the lady sultanas drink water from the fountain of farewell out of these golden bowls?"
They once asked Keçecizade Fuat Pasha: "Pasha, who are your true friends?"
The Pasha thought for a moment:
"I am in power now — I cannot tell!"
After the great Hocapaşa fire of 1864, Grand Vizier Keçecizade Fuad Pasha wished to widen Divanyolu and the area around the Sublime Porte. The new avenue was to be 25 meters wide. Many were of the opinion that Istanbul had no need for such a wide road, and Hüseyin Bey was one of them. Yet once the avenue was completed, it brought such satisfaction that one day, finding himself face to face with Fuat Pasha, he said, hoping to be forgiven:
-Thanks to Your Excellency's grace, the avenues and sidewalks have turned out most beautifully.
Keçecizade was like a heavy, wide-wicked lamp that left no remark in the shadows — he shot back: Yes, these pavements were built with the stones thrown at us.
The Human Condition Is an Enigma
Mustafa Reşit Pasha (1810/1858), one of the eminent figures of the Ottoman state who went down in history for the "Tanzimat Edict" he put into effect, had habits of attention that might at first strike one as odd. Eight months before his death, during a mevlid recited at his waterfront residence on the occasion of Ramadan, the hodja leading the prayer forgot to mention the Pasha's name. When they were alone, Reşit Pasha said to his son, Ali Galip Pasha:
"I believe this is our last year in this mortal world. Today at the mevlid, the reciting hodja did not mention my name. He must have sensed it... In any case, the time to prepare for the hereafter is drawing near."
Ali Galip Pasha consoled his father — weary and on edge because of all that was happening in the country — telling him it was nothing more than ordinary forgetfulness. But, by divine providence, Reşit Pasha passed away eight months after this incident.
On the occasion of the fortieth day after his father's death, Ali Galip Pasha had a mevlid recited at the same waterfront mansion. By a curious coincidence, the same hodja performed the "final prayer" of the mevlid — and this time, it was Ali Galip Pasha's name he forgot.
Still under the influence of the earlier incident, Ali Galip Pasha recounted what had happened to Keçecizade Fuat Pasha, who was present at the mevlid ceremony. Fuat Pasha changed the subject, saying it was not right to dwell on such things. Yet, curiously enough, Ali Galip Pasha himself drowned in a maritime accident shortly after this mevlid.
The statesman Keçecizade Fuat Pasha, whose original profession was medicine, would often recount these two incidents and "One's future is an enigma." he would say.
Keçecizâde Fuad Pasha
Ottoman Grand Vizier (Istanbul 1815 - Nice 1869). Son of the poet Keçecizâde İzzet Molla. He graduated from the Imperial School of Medicine (1835). He spent some three years in Tripolitania; on his return, he entered the Translation Office of the Sublime Porte and rose to the post of chief translator (1839). He was then appointed chief secretary of the Ottoman Embassy in London (1814). Upon his return from London, he became minister plenipotentiary to Spain and was awarded the "rütbe-i sâniye" decoration (1844). The following year, he was appointed translator and âmedci (receiver of state papers) of the Imperial Council (1847). While he held this post, when a Russian army entered Wallachia in response to the nationalist uprisings that had broken out across Europe and spread to the Danube regions, he was sent to Bucharest (1848). There, he strove to maintain good relations with the Russians.
The Hungarian and Polish revolutionaries, put in a difficult position by Russia's assistance to the Austrians, had taken refuge in the Ottoman Empire. In order not to sever the bonds of friendship, Fuad Efendi proposed that three officers among the refugees be extradited and that the others be sent to Vidin. The Sublime Porte, however, adopting the view of Grand Vizier Mustafa Reşit Pasha, resolved that none of them would be handed over. When Russia and Austria declared that they would be compelled to break off diplomatic relations unless the refugees were returned as soon as possible (1849), the Council of Ministers decided to send Fuad Efendi, then in Bucharest, to the Russian Tsar with the rank of ambassador extraordinary. Fuad Efendi was charged with the heavy task of, should the Tsar insist on his demand for extradition, informing Istanbul of the situation and awaiting new instructions without breaking off relations. Moreover, the limited scope of his authority also placed him in a difficult position.
On 4 October 1849, he delivered the sultan's letter to the tsar. By persuading Foreign Minister Nesselrode that the refugee question was a private matter between the two monarchs, he ensured that the negotiations continued. The Sublime Porte, in appreciation of Fuad Efendi's services, appointed him Undersecretary to the Grand Vizierate with the rank of bâlâ. Upon his return to Istanbul (1850), he was awarded the Order of Distinction as a reward. Fuad Efendi, who then spent some time in Bursa, wrote the grammar book Kavâid-i Osmaniye (Rules of Ottoman Turkish) together with Cevdet Efendi (Pasha), and drafted the charter of Şirket-i Hayriye. On his return from Bursa, he was appointed, in his capacity as Undersecretary to the Grand Vizierate, a member of the newly founded Encümen-i Dâniş (the Ottoman Academy of Sciences).
He was sent to Egypt by Grand Vizier Reşid Pasha (March 1852). During the three and a half months he spent there, he raised Egypt's annual tribute from 60,000 to 80,000 purses. Upon his return, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. At that time, the question of the Holy Places had reached its climax. The Russians claimed that Fuad Efendi was siding with the French on this matter. Prince Menshikov came to Istanbul to discuss the issue and went directly to see the Grand Vizier. Finding this conduct contrary to protocol, Fuad Efendi resigned from the ministry. The Sublime Porte rejected Menshikov's demands and declared war on Russia (1853). Taking advantage of this, Greek guerrilla forces marched on Ioannina, and Fuad Efendi was assigned the task of suppressing them (1854).
After his return to Istanbul, he was also given the presidency of the Supreme Council of the Tanzimat (Meclis-i Âlî-i Tanzimat) and appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs with the rank of vizier (April 1855). However, due to the heavy volume of his duties, he relinquished the presidency of the Tanzimat Council. When the British ambassador, Lord Stratford, asked the Sultan to replace Fuad Pasha in order to prevent him from attending the Paris Conference, he left his post (November 1856). He was assigned to the Supreme Council (Meclis-i Âlî); in August of the following year he was appointed president of the Supreme Council of the Tanzimat for the second time, and shortly afterward he was named Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was appointed plenipotentiary to the Paris Congress, convened to determine the new administration of Wallachia and Moldavia, while retaining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (April 1858).
In 1860, while still holding the office of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fuad Pasha was tasked, in the capacity of extraordinary commissioner, with resolving the conflict that had broken out between the Maronites and the Druze in Mount Lebanon. He went to Beirut and forcefully suppressed the disturbances in Damascus. The surrender of the guilty Druze chieftains further strengthened Fuad Pasha's position, particularly vis-à-vis the French, and forestalled their intervention.
While Fuad Pasha was in Syria, Sultan Abdülmecid Han passed away and Abdülaziz Han ascended the throne. The new sultan merged the Meclis-i Vâlâ (Supreme Council) with the Meclis-i Âlî-i Tanzimat (High Council of the Tanzimat) and appointed Fuad Pasha as its president (14 July 1861). Shortly afterwards, Fuad Pasha was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs for the fourth time and then Grand Vizier (22 November 1861), leaving Syria, where he had spent a year and a half, and returning to Istanbul. During this term of office, in order to remedy the financial crisis the state found itself in, he took over the general supervision of the treasury and communicated the measures he deemed necessary to the sultan in a lengthy memorandum. Yet despite all his efforts, he was unable to set the financial situation right as he had hoped. Citing also the increasingly grave political situation caused by the spread of nationalist ideas in Rumelia, he resigned from the grand vizierate (6 January 1863).
Some time later, at the sultan's insistence, he accepted the presidency of the Meclis-i Vâlâ-yı Ahkâm-ı Adliye (the Supreme Council of Judicial Ordinances). He accompanied Abdülaziz Han on his journey to Egypt (3 April - 3 May 1863). On his return, he received the title of Yâver-i Ekrem (Chief Aide-de-Camp). Before long, he was appointed Grand Vizier for the second time, while retaining the office of Serasker, commander-in-chief (1 June 1863). Fuad Pasha wrote a political testament addressed to Abdülaziz Han, setting out the course to be followed in order to protect the state's interests in the face of the policies of the great powers; this testament was later published in the newspaper Meşveret, issued in Paris. During his political career, beyond foreign relations and financial and military reforms, Fuad Pasha also undertook a number of administrative initiatives: he put forward the ideas of replacing the eyalet system with a provincial (vilayet) organization administered by empowered governors, and of adopting masonry construction methods in the cities, and strove to realize them. In the midst of this, he was removed from office.
Upon Âlî Pasha's accession to the grand vizierate, he became Minister of Foreign Affairs for the fifth time (February 1867). He accompanied Sultan Abdülaziz Khan on his journey to Europe (21 June - 17 August 1867). Owing to his heart condition, he returned from this journey exhausted and ill, and following his doctors' advice he went to Nice to spend the winter, where he died (12 February 1869). His body was brought back to Istanbul and buried in his mausoleum on Peykhane Street.