Post by Sublime Porte on Sept 11, 2016 19:04:16 GMT
Following a long-established precedent that would not be abandoned until 1793, the Ottoman Empire considers itself far too important to establish permanent embassies to foreign powers. Instead, the Sublime Porte waits for the diplomatic mountain to come to the successors of the Prophet. At the imperial palace of Topkapi, commanding a raised position on a headland overlooking the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus, foreign embassies may be systematically awed by the palace gardens, and selectively granted varying access to ever more restricted areas of the palace, before, if they are lucky, being granted a personal audience with the Sultan and his ministers. All this before being returned home to their miniature exile on the other side of the vast inlet of the Golden Horn.
The embassies of important powers are restricted to the former Italian exclaves of Galata (Karakoy) and Pera (Beyoglu). The embassies largely follow a line winding up the hill from the Genoese tower of Galata up to the district of Pera. The best real estate is, of course, occupied by France and England, but all nations are welcome to establish a base in the European side of Konstantiniyye.
A message is sent to the crowned heads of Europe, signed by Mustafa II, promising a positive response to any petitions to establish or expand embassies in Istanbul. Turkey is reaching out to the world, but the world must still come to Turkey.
The embassies of important powers are restricted to the former Italian exclaves of Galata (Karakoy) and Pera (Beyoglu). The embassies largely follow a line winding up the hill from the Genoese tower of Galata up to the district of Pera. The best real estate is, of course, occupied by France and England, but all nations are welcome to establish a base in the European side of Konstantiniyye.
A message is sent to the crowned heads of Europe, signed by Mustafa II, promising a positive response to any petitions to establish or expand embassies in Istanbul. Turkey is reaching out to the world, but the world must still come to Turkey.
