Ottoman Empire
An Imperial Mission in Washington
The Ottoman Empire's formal engagement with the United States preceded its resident mission in Washington. American negotiators presented credentials in 1830, and diplomatic relations followed in 1831. The first resident Ottoman envoy in the embassy's published succession, Blacque Bey, arrived in 1867. His mission represented the sultan's imperial government. [1] [2]
Citizenship disputes brought the legation into contact with people who had left Ottoman territory and become Americans. In November 1893, Minister Mavroyeni Bey defended the provisional arrest and expulsion of two returning former Ottoman subjects by invoking Ottoman nationality law. Acting Secretary of State Edwin Uhl replied that treating them as foreigners removed the dispute over their American citizenship, but maintained objections to punishment that could provoke further contention. [3] [4]
Change at the Throne and the End of Representation
By April 1909, the incoming mission was corresponding as an embassy. Ambassador H. Kiazim notified the State Department that the National Assembly had deposed Sultan Abdülhamid II and proclaimed Mehmed V. His note emphasized the new sultan's oath to the constitution. [5]
During the First World War, American representation in the empire became a channel for reporting the Armenian genocide. In July 1915, Ambassador Henry Morgenthau informed Washington of systematic deportations, massacres, and obstruction of relief. He described the measures as directed from the capital under claims of military necessity. [6] [7]
The Ottoman government severed diplomatic relations with the United States on 20 April 1917. The mission's published roster ends that phase with Abdülhak Hüseyin Bey. When relations resumed in 1927, the incoming ambassador represented the Republic of Türkiye. [1] [2]
Collapse and Successor States
Occupation and war continued after the empire’s defeat in 1918. Nationalist victory and abolition of the sultanate in 1922 ended imperial government; Lausanne established a revised settlement in 1923. The Republic of Türkiye inherited part of the empire, while former Arab provinces followed separate political paths. [7]
Sources
- Office of the Historian, Turkey
1830 recognition; 1831 relations; 1917 rupture; 1927 restoration
- Embassy of Türkiye, Mission History and Former Ambassadors
Opening building history; Black Bey, Ahmet Muhtar, and Mehmet Münir Ertegün entries
- Mavroyeni Bey to Gresham, 22 November 1893
Main note and appended nationality law
- Uhl to Mavroyeni Bey, 28 November 1893
Main response
- Turkish Ambassador to Secretary of State, 27 April 1909
Entire short note, signed H. Kiazim
- Ambassador Morgenthau to the Secretary of State
10 July 1915, FRUS 1915 Supplement, document 1400, file 867.4016/74; reporting on centrally directed Armenian deportations, massacres, and restrictions on relief.
- The Long End of the Ottoman Empire
Yiğit Akın, Ohio State University Origins, February 2024; wartime territorial losses, abolition of the sultanate in 1922, and Lausanne settlement in 1923.
Related Reading
Cite This Article
Ottoman Empire. Chanceries Diplopedia. Record version d92a510c55953969b408.