Türkal, Merve Karaçay

During the Prut War between the Ottoman Empire and Russia, Grand Vizier Baltaci Mehmet\rPasha was appointed as Serdar-i Ekrem in February 1711. The Ottoman army was successful in the\rbattle that started on July 18 and lasted for four days. Russian Tsar Peter I, who could not escape the\rwar, requested peace and Baltaci Mehmed Pasha accepted this offer and the Prut Treaty was signed.\rSultan Ahmed III, was also satisfied regarding the signing of the treaty. However, the failure of Tsar\rPeter I, who saved himself and his soldiers to be perished, to fulfill the terms of the treaty, led to the\rformation of an opposition group in Istanbul against the grand vizier. If the terms of the treaty could\rnot be implemented, Baltaci Mehmed Pasha wrote letters to Valide Gulnus Sultan, who was in the\rpalace, in order to save himself from the likely negative situations. Because the Grand Vizier became\raware of the alliance formed against him before returning to Istanbul, and even he had received\rthreatening letters from Ahmed III. The subject of this study is the evaluation of the letters that Baltaci\rMehmed Pasha wrote to save himself, impeachment process and along with the events within the\rframework of the Prut War.\rThe aim of the study is to contribute to the studies on the political history of the Ottoman Empire\rand the history of Ottoman diplomacy and bureaucracy in the 18th century.\rLetters, which are among the historical documents of the Ottoman Empire, have an important\rplace in the field of Ottoman diplomacy and bureaucracy. The letters in question in this study are\revaluated in the category of private letters.\rThe letters which belongs to Baltaci Mehmed Pasha and registered at State Archives\rPresidency's Ottoman Archives by the number BOA, TS.MA.e / 562 - 2, (TSMA No: 2989/1-2), and\rC..SM.. / 102-5143 translated and evaluated.\rThis article consists of four separate sections; introduction, about Baltaci Mehmed Pasha, the\rdismissal process of Baltaci Mehmed Pasha, and the letters Baltaci Mehmed Pasha wrote to Valide\rGulnus Sultan. Based on the letters, it was tried to determine how Baltaci Mehmed Pasha evaluated\rthe events. Some inferences have been made based on his own observations.\r