Rüstem Efendi

Rüstem Efendi represented the Ottoman Empire at the International Meridian Conference in 1884 as a secretary of its Washington legation. The embassy’s historical roster later records him at the head of the mission between October 1886 and March 1887. ^{1, 2}

He defended Ottoman timekeeping based on sunset for farming and religious observance, while accepting an international standard that preserved local practice. In the final review he changed his vote on the universal day’s starting point from affirmative to negative. ¹

Historian Ö. Kürşad Karacagil distinguishes this Rüstem from Alfred, later Ahmet, Rüstem Bey, the ambassador of 1914: the older Washington official had served there for years when the younger man was still in Sofia. ³