History of relations
American tribute to the Ottoman Empire
On September 5, 1795, [4] Joseph Donaldson, Junior, appointed by then 1st Minister of US to Portugal David Humphreys, signed the Treaty of Algiers with Hassan Bashaw, Dey of Algiers. [5] According to this treaty, the USA would pay 642,000 gold one-time and 12,000 Ottoman gold ($21,600 dollars) per year in exchange for the extradition of prisoners in Algeria and the lack of touching any ship carrying the US banner both in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Mediterranean. It is the only U.S. document in its history to acknowledge the payment of taxes to a foreign state, as well as the only treaty in a foreign language in more than two centuries of history. The USA remained loyal to this 22-article treaty until 1818. [6]
However, the first contact between the United States and the Ottoman central government took place when Captain William Bainbridge of the USS George Washington of the American Navy had to sail to Istanbul in 1800 upon being compelled by the Dey of Algiers to deliver the Dey's gifts and envoy to the Ottoman Sultan and Bainbridge arrive in Istanbul on November 9, 1800, marking the first direct encounter of the United States and Ottoman government.
US Barbary Wars
In the early 19th century, the US fought the Barbary Wars against the Barbary states, which were under Ottoman suzerainty.
In 1825, during the Greek War of Independence and Greek civil wars of 1823-1825, the U.S. Navy conducted anti-piracy operations in the Aegean Sea. Greece and the Aegean were controlled by the Ottomans until Greece achieved independence in 1829. The first draft of the Monroe Doctrine, written in 1823, included a passage praising the Greek revolutionaries, though the passage was ultimately removed. [7]
In 1831 the U.S. sent its first formally approved envoy to the Ottoman Empire, David Porter. [8] The empire and the U.S. at that point had their representatives at the "Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary" level. [9] Sinan Kuneralp, author of "Ottoman Diplomatic and Consular Personnel in the United States of America, 1867–1917," wrote that the empire initially apparently lacked "any sensible justification" to open a mission stateside due to the relative distance between the countries. [8] Wasti wrote that "there was no real rush on the Ottoman side to send diplomatic envoys to Washington, DC". [9]
The first official Ottoman government visit to the U.S., lasting for six months in 1850, was that of Emin Bey, who toured shipyards there. [10] Two Ottoman officials, one being Edouard Blak Bey, who sensed the rise of the United States, unsuccessfully advocated for installing a mission in the U.S. during the early 1850s. [8] The first Ottoman honorary consulate in the U.S. opened in May 1858. [11]
In 1866 Ottoman foreign minister Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha declined to start a legation to the U.S. that year, after reviewing a proposal by Ambassador to France of the Ottoman Empire Safvet Pasha. However the ministry changed its mind after the leaders there perceived the reports of the Cretan revolt (1866–1869) from the US consul W.J. Stillman and other American reports to be misleading and decided they needed to present a counter-view. The empire sent its first permanent envoy to the U.S. in 1867, creating the Ottoman Legation in Washington, DC. Since the empire itself began establishing its diplomatic missions in the 1830s and due to the about three decade gap between the respective legations being established, Kuneralp wrote that the Ottomans created their U.S. mission "comparatively late". [8]
Blak was the first envoy to Washington. Kuneralp wrote that the Washington posting was not considered important to the Ottoman government, which is why some officials refused the posting and those considered promising were turned away from it. He cited the cases of then-minister to Florence Rüstem Bey and Osman Nizami Pasha, who declined in 1867 and 1912, respectively. [12] Nine envoys headed the legation beginning in 1877 and prior to full embassy status, [13] and there were a total of 13 envoys/ambassadors in the position. [12]
Mustafa Shekib Bey, in 1904, recommended that the Ottomans appoint Levantine Armand Guys as the first commercial attaché, arguing that commercial relations had increased. [14]
In 1906 the U.S. upgraded its representation in Constantinople to the embassy level. [9]
The most important aspect of American diplomacy in the late 19th century, down to 1914, involved protection of the hundreds of American Protestant missionaries to the Ottoman Empire. [15] [16]
Armenian issues
Abdul Hamid II disliked it when the Americans pleaded for help for Armenians. As a result, he terminated the credentials of envoy Mustafa Shekib, and chose not to upgrade the mission to embassy status. Shekib therefore was unable to present his credentials to the President. Shekib slept in the daytime, and so his staff dealt with U.S. officials. Kuneralp stated that therefore "Things were eased out". [17]
Moro rebellion in the Philippines
In 1899, John Hay, the American Secretary of State, asked the Jewish American ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Oscar Straus to request Sultan Abdul Hamid II to write a letter to the Moro Sulu Muslims of the Sulu Sultanate in the Philippines telling them to submit to American suzerainty and American military rule (see Philippine–American War). The Sultan obliged and wrote the letter, which was sent to Sulu via Mecca; two Sulu chiefs delivered it to Sulu and it was successful since the "Sulu Mohammedans... refused to join the insurrectionists and had placed themselves under the control of our army, thereby recognizing American sovereignty." [18]
Abdul Hamid used his position as caliph to order the Sulu Sultan not to resist and not fight the invading Americans. [19] President McKinley did not mention the Ottoman role in the pacification of the Sulu Moros in his address to the first session of the 56th Congress in December 1899 since the agreement with the Sultan of Sulu was not submitted to the Senate until December 18. [20] Despite Sulu's "pan-Islamic" ideology, he readily acceded to Straus' request to avoid hostilities between the West and Muslims. [21] The Sulu sultan was persuaded by the Ottoman Sultan. [22]
John P. Finley wrote that,
"After due consideration of these facts, the Sultan, as Caliph caused a message to be sent to the Mohammedans of the Philippine Islands forbidding them to enter into any hostilities against the Americans, inasmuch as no interference with their religion would be allowed under American rule. As the Moros have never asked more than that, it is not surprising, that they refused all overtures made, by Aguinaldo's agents, at the time of the Filipino insurrection. President McKinley sent a personal letter of thanks to Mr. Straus for the excellent work he had done, and said, its accomplishment had saved the United States at least twenty thousand troops in the field. If the reader will pause to consider what this means in men and also the millions in money, he will appreciate this wonderful piece of diplomacy, in averting a holy war." [23] [24] [25]
The Muslim peoples obeyed the order. [26]
In 1904, the Moro Rebellion then broke out between the Americans and Moro Muslims.
Young Turk Revolution
The Young Turk Revolution removed Abdul Hamid II from power in 1908, and officials more favorable to the U.S. replaced him. [17] The Ottoman Legation in Washington was designated as an embassy in 1909, [9] and given the second class ranking; the Ottoman Empire at the time ranked its embassies by importance. [27]
During the Presidency of William Howard Taft, an American strategy was to become involved in business transactions rather than military confrontations, a policy known as Dollar Diplomacy. It failed with respect to the Ottoman Empire because of opposition from US ambassador Oscar Straus and to Turkish vacillation under pressure from the entrenched European powers who did not wish to see American competition. American trade remained a minor factor. [28]
Henry Morgenthau, Sr. was the U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during World War I until 1916. Morgenthau criticized the ruling Three Pashas for the Armenian genocide and sought to get help for the Armenians. [29] Jesse B. Jackson, consul in Aleppo, also assisted Armenians.
Morgenthau's replacement Abram Isaac Elkus, served in 1916–1917.
The Ottomans severed diplomatic relations with the United States on April 20, 1917, after the United States had declared war against Germany on April 4, 1917. The United States never declared war on the Ottoman Empire. [30]
On January 28, 1919, [31] Mark Lambert Bristol began serving as the High Commissioner for Turkey. He served in this role through the end of the Ottoman Empire and the beginning of the Republic of Turkey, the Ottoman Empire's successor state. [32] Thomas A. Bryson of West Georgia College wrote that in 1919 "the United States enjoyed a benevolent reputation in Turkey" due to missionary work done by Americans and because the United States did not declare war on the empire. [33] He also stated that Bristol had "built up a large deposit of Turkish good will for the United States". [34]
Bristol's role ended in 1927, [32] when normal diplomatic relations were established with Turkey. [30]
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Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seatings at state dinners, the person to whom diplomatic credentials should be presented, and the title by which the diplomat should be addressed.
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Gregory "Ligor" Aristarchis, also known as Aristarchi Bey, was an Ottoman diplomat of Phanariote Greek ethnicity, compiler of a corpus of Ottoman legislation.
Alexandros Mavrogenis Bey was the Ottoman-appointed Prince of Samos from 1902 to 1904.
The Embassy of the United States in Lisbon is the embassy of the United States in Portugal, in the capital city of Lisbon. It is located on Avenida das Forças Armadas.
Ahmet Rüstem Bey (1862–1934), born Alfred Bilinski, was an Ottoman diplomat who served as last Ottoman ambassador to the United States in 1914. Despite neither of his parents being ethnically Turkish, he himself was an ardent Turkish nationalist. He was "exceptionally high-strung and outspoken" and had a "propensity to challenge people to duels". Prior to his appointment as ambassador, he had already served twice in the United States capital, both times leaving in a hurry.
Edouard Blak Bey a.k.a. Edouard Blacque (1824–1895) was the first minister of the Ottoman Empire to the United States.
Ali Ferruh Bey was an Ottoman Empire envoy to the United States. Sinan Kuneralp, author of "Ottoman Diplomatic and Consular Personnel in the United States of America, 1867–1917," described him as the most well-known Ottoman envoy to the U.S.
Mustafa Shekib Bey, sometimes spelled Chekib, was an envoy of the Ottoman Empire to the United States.
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