THE SULTAN'S FAVOURITE

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 160, 8 July 1899, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE SULTAN'S FAVOURITE

One of the chief unofficial advisers of the Sultan, a man who played a notoriously important part in the affairs of the Turkish Empire, has just died in the person of Loutfi Aga. It is difficult to define his official ' position (says the "Daily Telegraph's" Constantinople correspondent), which probably was more akin to that of'a valet than anything else, but so great was the confidence he enjoyed in the eyes of his Imperial master that he swayed the destinies of Turkey more absolutely than the Grand Vizier himself, and in many negotiations at Yildiz he was an influence with which it was necessary to reckon. Loutfi was' .first known to the world, or, rather, to a small insignificant section of it, as the confidential servant of Mahmoud Nedim Pasha, a former Grand Vizier. On two occasions this functionary was sent into exile, and Loutfi acompanied his master, refusing to be separated from him. It is stated that his fidelity to Mahmoud so impressed the Sultan that on Mahmoud's death he sent for Loutfi, who soon became one of the most important men in the Empire. It is certain that during his reign he procured posts of varying- importance for most of the members of Mahmoud Nedim's family. The career of Loutfi Aga illustrates most admirably the Sultan's system of leaning on favourites rescued from obscurity by a stroke of the pen, and his death leaves Turkey at the mercy of the next Imperial whim. There is absolutely no reason why the first beggar on the Galata bridge should not to-morrow become the Sultan's confidential adviser.