Military officer, Serdâr-ı Ekrem (T. N. Grand Vizier,
greatest minister of the Sultan) (B. 1806, Plaski / Croatia – D. 1871, Eyüp / Istanbul).
He was the commander-in-chief of Ottoman forces during the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid and Sultan Abdülaziz and was
a marshal known for his outstanding successes. He was born as Mihajlo Latas to Hungarian
parents. He was also known as Frenk Ömer Pasha. While he was attending to an
Austrian Military School, he fled to Ottoman (1828) and was converted to Islam.
He changed his name as Ömer Lütfi and then he joined the Ottoman army as a captain.
He first went to Bosnia and then to Istanbul. There he worked as a teacher in a
military school and as a tutor of Prince Abdülmecid for a while.
Afterwards, he was assigned as major, governor,
writing-master in Serasker Kapısı (T.N. Office of the Vizier and Commander) and
then he was assigned as colonel and general. In 1843, he was dismissed from the
army as “mir-i ümera” which is
a term used for a Pasha living a civil life. However, his military rank was
given back to him again by Sultan Abdlmecid after he corrected a mistake in a
military drill. After Acre was recaptured, he joined the Syrian campaign which
ended the reign of Mehmet Ali
Pasha, the governor of Egypt (1840). Next year, he was appointed as mirliva (Brigadier
General) of Lebanon. Since France and Russia objected that a Christian governor
was to be appointed there, he was relieved of his duty (1842) and assigned for the
reforms in Albania (1843).
Ömer
Lütfi Pasha suppressed revolvers, who objected that casting lots for recruits
of the army should remain, in Eastern Anatolia (1846). While he was a brigadier
general, he was sent to Romania, called as Walachia and Moldova and he took over
Bucharest. In 1848 he was appointed as the Rumelia Müşiri (T.N. Marshall of
Rumelia). Afterwards, he was set in charge of reforms in Albanian and
Kurdistan. He managed them successfully and then suppressed Romanian revolvers,
who intended to declare their independence. While he was going to capture
Bucharest, he was relieved of his duty due to Russia’s protests (1850).
Lütfi
Pasha was set in charge of Ottoman Forces as a full general to compress the
uprising of Montenegro (1852). He brought order into Bosnia and Montenegro in a
short time and was appointed as the general of Rumelia Forces (1853). During the
Crimean War (1853), he sent an ultimatum to the Russian General, Alexander
Gorchakov and asked him to leave Wallacia and Moldavia within fifteen days. Having
been rejected by Gorchakov, he crossed the Danube river to Calafat and defeated
Russian forces first in Oltenitza in 1853 and then in Tschetate in 1854. He was
promoted to Serdar-ı Ekrem (Commander-in Chief) by Abdülmecid in Ottoman-Russo
wars. In the same year, he assisted Silistra to break the siege of Russia. Upon
his victory in Yerköyü, the enemy army had to retreat Moldova together with his
ships on Danube River, thus Ottoman forces could easily enter the city of
Bucharest. Since the main battles started to take place in Crimea, he headed towards
Crimea and crushed Russian forces of twenty-five thousand soldiers in the
Battle of Eupatoria (1855). After the defeat, Czar Nicholas I of Russia grieved
and committed
suicide.
Ömer
Lütfi Pasha marched to Caucasus to save Kars from the Russian siege for three
months, after he captured Sivastopol. Even though he defeated the Russians near
the İnguri River and made his way through Kutaysi, he couldn’t stop the Russians
from taking Kars. Thus, he fell into disfavor after the end of Crimean War (1856)
and was appointed to Mecalis-i Aliye (T.N. council of state). In
1857, he became the Marshall of Iraq and Hejaz forces and then the Governor of
Baghdad. Two years later, he was discharged from his duty and arrested in
Harput. He was allowed to reside in his farm. In 1861 when Abülaziz succeeded
to the throne, Ömer Pasha was appointed as the Marshall of Rumelia Forces and
inspector general of Bosnia and its vicinity. He marched towards Montenegro and captured Cetinje, the capital
of Montenegro with fifty-thousand men and repressed the
insurrection (1858). Upon his return
to Istanbul, he became both Marshall of Rumelia Forces and Governor of Seraskier
(1861).
Ömer
Pasha suppressed revolts of Herzegovina and defeated Montenegrin forces in
Rijeka. While he was marching towards Cetinje, capital of Montenegro,
the Treaty of Scutari was signed upon request of European states (1862). He was
appointed as the general of all forces in Rumelia (1865). After a while, he
became the full general of Crete. Since the uprising in the Crete couldn’t be
suppressed and it got worse, he was sent there with full authority (1866). He
defeated the revolvers, who claimed that they joined Greece, in Lasithi and
forced them to retreat to the mountains in Sphakia, where he surrounded them.
During this successful campaign, Russia, Prussia, Italy and France sent their ambassadors
to Sublime Porte (the government of the Ottoman) and sent a diplomatic note requesting
an international commission and a referendum in Crete (1867). After that, Ömer
Lütfi Pasha was discharged of his duty and was called back to Istanbul. He was
appointed to the Army General of Ottoman forces as the Governor of Seraskier (the
General of Ottoman Forces) for the second time as the replacement of Seraskier
Namık Pasha (1868). In 1869, he became the Hassa Müşiri (T.N.
Indicator-in-chief) and it was his last assignment. He died in Eyüp and buried
in Bostan İskelesi.