141
Displays Traces Of An
Era In Turkish Politics
https://www.tccb.gov.tr/cumhurbaskanlarimiz/suleyman_demirel/
Milliyet, (2016).
Retrieved at January 23, 2016, from
http://www.milliyet.com.tr/suleyman-
demirelin-hayati-boyle-gundem-2075040/
P. A. Tolstoy: The Life of a Russian Ambassador in Istanbul in a Historical –
Fictional Context (1702-1714)
10
Emine Inanir
1. Introduction
In addition to sacred places and relics of the Christian world, observations on
İstanbul were also included in the embassy correspondences of the Russian
diplomats (“
stateynıye spiski”) and the notes of travellers who seek new lands.
When political and commercial relations between Russia and Turkey densified in
the 18
th
century, Petro I had to choose an experienced diplomat who would adapt
to Ottoman administers. The ambassador chosen by the Tsar, Pyotr Andreyevich
Tolstoy carried out his mission in Turkey successfully between 1702 and 1714.
These 12 years which was full of dense relations and difficulties became a centre
of interest for both Russian historians and writers. In this study, the time Pyotr
Andreyevich Tolstoy spent in the Ottoman soil and İstanbul was discussed based
on the reports of the ambassador in State Archives, researcher Nikolai Pavlenko’s
historical-fiction
Vokrug Trona. Ptentsi gnezda Petrova. Strasti u trona (
Around
Throne. Birds of Petro Nest. Passions around the Throne) and Y. Federov’s novel
Poruçaet Rossiya (
Russia is Calling for Duty). These two sources were written in
accordance with the historical objective facts in Tolstoy’s reports to the Embassy
officers in Russia and his study entitled
People’s Situation in the Ottoman Country
(Sostoyanie naroda turetskogo).
2. P. A. Tolstoy’s Place
in
The Russian History
In the first years of 18
th
century, Petro I decided to solve disagreements with
Turkey diplomatically due to the war continuing in the North (with Sweden). The
Tsar
gave that important mission to P. A. Tolstoy, who had experience in overseas
missions; the Tsar thought that he could adapt himself to the “delicate political
ideas” of the Ottomans. This diplomat is the first Russian diplomat to appoint as
the permanent ambassador in the Ottoman Empire. Historian Pavlenko, who
searched the diplomacy activities of ambassador, depicts him in his historical
monograph entitled
Vokrug Trona as follows:
While examining the content and framework of the meetings with Ottoman
bureaucrats, Tolstoy leaves an impression that he was all -round person who was
aggressive and prejudiced or civilized and calm when necessary and also fierce,
strong-minded and relentless at the same time (Pavlenko, 1999, p. 278-279).
In order to show Ambassador P. A. Tolstoy’s mission in Istanbul more
clearly, we should briefly mention the developments in Russia in that period.
That new period started when the Russian intellectuals gave an objective and
reasonable quality to the Western culture and art that they brought to their country.
Petro Reforms were inevitable in order to achieve practical and effective results in
technology as in cultural life. In this period, the role of
European embassy trips is
10
The paper is supported by İstanbul University BAP Scientific Research Project (BEK-2016—22315) .