Diplomatic duties and activities of Ahmet Vefik Pasha

The Tanzimat is a milestone of the modernization of the Ottoman Empire. At this point the diplomatic activities of the officials who qualified in this state-run institution, the Translation Office are noteworthy within this modernization process. These officials were assigned to many important positions after they left the Translation Office, which was the preparatory stage of their political lives. Ahmed Vefik Pasha is among the prominent political and intellectual people who gained his prominence by his diplomatic achievements and keen intelligence during the Tanzimat Period. His personality and diplomatic experience made him one of the statesmen who worth to examine in this diplomacy institution. As well as a literary person, Ahmed Vefik Pasha also managed to stand out as a triumphant statesman with his political achievements by compounding his educational background and his political experience. Ahmed Vefik Pasha performed the duties as a clerk, ambassador, governor, chairman of parliament, speakership, the inspector and minister of education in state institutions and successfully fulfilled these duties he had taken at different levels of the state due to his office experience. The present studies about Ahmed Vefik Pasha, mostly covere his literary personality. This diplomatic side of him was not discussed on those studies despite he fulfilled prominent duties as statesman for a long time. Therefore, in this study, we tried to deal with the diplomatic and political aspects of Ahmed Vefik Pasha.