Page 283 - Mastermind: The Truth of the British Deep State Revealed

Adnan Harun Yahya

Sultan Abdul Hamid II called Vámbéry to Turkey in the 1880s. Conse-

quently, he stayed at Yıldız Palace as the Sultan's special guest. When Lord
Salisbury saw that Vámbéry was able to enter the Palace, he invited him to

the Foreign Office and tasked him with the duty of spying on the Sultan.

Owing to his linguistic abilities, Vámbéry was hired as a translator by the

Ottoman Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Recognizing the potential Vámbéry
represented, the Western media also hired him as Istanbul correspondent,

hoping to benefit from his intelligence and observations. He was received with
great enthusiasm particularly in Britain, and dinners were held in his honor;

he even received an invitation from Queen Victoria.

The House of Commons raised the question whether there was any truth
to the rumors that Vámbéry went to Abdul Hamid II on a special mission as-

signed by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and if the rumors were
true, what the mission involved. The answer was clear in stating that the ru-

mors were completely baseless. However only one month prior, Vámbéry
had gone to Istanbul upon instructions from Lord Salisbury and submitted

a long, confidential report to the Foreign Office on Abdul Hamid II and the
Ottoman Empire.

Sultan Abdul Hamid II said, 'I also wish very much to reach a deal with
the British; I will not hesitate to offer the necessary compromises, as long as they
are willing, too.' He even offered an alliance to the British by means of Vám-

béry. 142

Charles Arbuthnot
Charles Arbuthnot was the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire

between 1804 and 1807. He was also behind the failed operation of the British
navy attack on the Dardanelles Strait and its coming to the offshore waters

of Prince Islands to threaten Istanbul.

Prior to the Dardanelles Operation of 1808, Russia invaded the Turkish

lands of Moldavia and Wallachia without any declaration of war. Urged by
the French ambassador Horace Sébastiani, the Ottomans began war prepa-
rations against Russia. However, British ambassador Arbuthnot, who was