Ömer Lütfi Paşa

Asker

Eğitim
Austrian Military School
Diğer İsimler
Michel Latoş, Mihaylo Latoş, Frenk Ömer Paşa, Si­vil Paşa

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.

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