The Embassy of Ahmed Vasıf Efendi in connection with Turkish-Spanish relations (1787-1788)

Diplomacy is a major factor in the conduct of international relations, the protection of national interests and the observation of foreign affairs in the world. The Ottoman Empire was not a part of the European originated diplomatic system until the establishment of the first permanent embassy in London in 1793. However, Sublime Porte dispatched many ambassadors abroad on ad hoc basis for specific purposes from the earliest period. One of the channels for the Ottomans to conduct their foreign relations was through temporary embassies. The embassy of Ahmed Vasıf Efendi to Spain in 1787 was an example of this kind. The Ottoman Empire was badly defeated by the Russians (1768-1774). The disaster of Çeşme (1770) and humiliating peace treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774) shuttered the Ottoman supremacy in her territories and terribly damaged the integrity of the Ottoman Empire. Therefore at the last quarter of the Eighteenth Century the Sublime Porte found it inevitable to conduct a foreign policy on the basis of balance of powers in order to lessen foreign intervention and maintain integrity endangered by this treaty. Ahmed Vasıf Efendi 's embassy to Spain aimed to confirm the continuation of Turco-Spanish commercial treaty of 1782 and also to obtain the support of Spanish government forthcoming war against Russia, because Russian navy with the help of England crossed the Gibraltar and destroyed the Ottoman navy in Çeşme during the last Russian war. The embassy of Ahmed Vasıf Efendi approximately lasted for ten and half months. He wrote his embassy's account or ambassadorial report and handed over to his masters in the Sublime Porte. His ambassadorial report is called İspanya Sefaretnamesi and is the only one relating Spain in its kind. This account is one of the good examples of ambassadorial report in style. This thesis examines in detail the accounts of Ahmed Vasıf Efendi 's İspanya Sefaretname, in which he describes his voyage, views and impressions of Spain and Spanish institutions in particularly the military, financial, political, administration organizations and socio-cultural life. VIII