Ahmed Köprülü Pasha
Ahmed Köprülü Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: احمد کوپروغلی پاشا), in contemporary sources Ahmet Coprogli Pasha, was a high-ranked official in the court of Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid I who held a variety of offices.
While serving as ambassador to Russia in February 1834, Pacha presented Czar Nicholas with a number of gifts, including a bridle/saddle/caparison worth an estimated £50,000, bracelets, 150 cashmere shawls, a dozen Arabian horses, and the chief gift, a jewel-encrusted sword said to have been taken from Constantine XI's corpse, following Mehmet II's Fall of Constantinople.[1]
By 1854, Pacha was Commander of the Ottoman naval forces in the Crimean War, where he met with Vice-Admirals James Dundas and François Hamelin to discuss the possibility of Ottoman participation in the attack on Mykolaiv naval base.[2]
While serving as Commander in Chief and Governor-General, Pacha was allegedly told about the ongoing 1860 Damascus massacre, but failed to mobilise his 800 troops to intervene.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Niles' Register, "Russia and Turkey", February 1834. Page 426.
- ^ W.L. Clowes on the 1854-56 Russian War
- ^ Banner of Liberty/London Post, "The Massacre at Damascus", August 22, 1860.