Ahmet Rüstem Bilinski

Ahmet Rüstem Bey (1862–1934) , born Alfred Bilinski, (Among the many variations on his name are: Alfred Bielinski, Alfred de Belinski, Ahmet Rüstem Bilinski and Ahmet Rüstem Pasha (Paşa).) His original Polish surname had multiple spellings. Sinan Kuneralp writes that "he is indifferently known as Alfred de Bilinsky, Alfred Rustem, or Ahmed Rüstem". He writes his name as "Ahmed Rüstem de Bilinski" in some works. He was "exceptionally high-strung and outspoken" and had a "propensity to challenge people to duels". . Prior to his appointment as ambassador, he had already served twice in the United States capital, both times leaving in a hurry. and a British Jewish mother. His father was an aristocrat who fled Poland after the failed revolution of 1848 and entered the Ottoman Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Sadreddin Nihad Pasha; a convert to Islam, he was born Seweryn Bielinski. Ahmet's mother was Mary Sandison, the daughter of a British consul in Bursa who previously did business in Constantinople (now Istanbul). Wasti stated that the family of Ahmet Rustem's maternal grandmother "is described as of Persian origin, and is possibly of Armenian antecedents."

His education occurred in Turkey. Besides his native English, Ahmet Rüstem could understand, read, and/or speak Arabic, French, German, Greek, Italian, Persian, and Turkish. Wasti stated that "several reports" stated that at 18 Ahmet Rüstem converted to Islam. From 1881 to December 1885 he served his first posting as a French translator in a mission in Bulgaria, and in June 1886 he became the third secretary of the embassy in Athens, Greece. he was sent to Belgrade, Serbia and held that post for three months. He quit at that point but rejoined the Belgrade mission, now as a second secretary, as his employers increased his status. He subsequently held this status in Athens and then, from May 1893, in London, United Kingdom. Circa 1893/1894 he was moved to Bucharest, Romania, and now served as a first secretary. He held that status when he was moved to Washington DC in April 1897. That year he quit the service to serve in the Greco-Turkish War, and he received a medal in September of that year after fighting in the Battle of Domokos as an honorary captain; the Romanian government also gave him the third class Couronne de Roumanie. He rejoined the diplomatic service in Bucharest that same year, then moved to London in July 1898, and back to Washington in January 1899. Ahmet Rustem encountered difficulty with his employers when he decided to report financial mismanagement at the Ottoman Legation in Washington, by writing an article to The Daily Mail in London and relocating to that city. He sent a letter to Costaki Anthopoulos, the empire's ambassador to the UK, saying that he would not resign, and that he would publish the correspondence in the UK if it was not published in the empire. The Ottoman government accused him of treason. Ahmet Rustem responded that he did not wish to return to the empire.

Ahmet Rustem took up the post of ambassador to the United States in June 1914. His first task was to defend his country's treatment of Armenians and to respond to the anti-Ottoman perspective of the American press. In September, he admitted that massacres had occurred in the past, but he argued that it was because of the Armenians' act of "political agitators engaged in undermining the Ottoman state while flaunting in the face of the government and dominant race the support of Russia, France and England." He then added that the Ottoman treatment of Armenians was no worse than American treatment of blacks (alluding to lynchings) or Filipinos (alluding to the so-called water cure). President Woodrow Wilson took great offense to this and a letter was sent to the Ottoman government informing them that Ahmet would no longer be of use to them in Washington, D.C. The United States did not label him persona non grata only because of the outbreak of World War I at the end of July. Ahmet defended his words in a letter to Secretary of State Robert Lansing, but the Ottoman government recalled him and he left in October. His duties were taken over by the chargé d'affaires Abdülhak Hüseyin Bey, who remained in office until the two countries severed relations on 20 April 1917 as the United States entered the war that the Ottomans had joined in November 1914.

The U.S. President in September 1914 asked Ahmet Rustem to stop writing comments against the U.S. in newspapers. That month he said he would not retract his statements and that he would no longer reside in the U.S. He left the U.S. on October 7, 1914. The New York Times wrote that his departure "created a sensation in Washington diplomatic circles."

In 1919, Ahmet Rustem joined the Turkish National Movement. He worked closely with Mustafa Kemal at Sivas during the congress in September and again in November but the two had a falling out and by September 1920 Ahmet had left Turkey for voluntary exile in Europe. He never returned, although Kemal eventually gave him a pension.

Personal life Not much has been disclosed of Ahmet Rüstem's personal life, but it is known that he was married to a woman.

Şenol Kantarcı, author of Osmanlı' da Onurlu bir Diplomat ve Milli Mücadele'nin Önemli Siması Ahmed Rüstem Bey (Alfred Bielinski – Alfred Rüstem Bey) (translation: "Ahmed Rüstem Bey: An Honourable Ottoman Diplomat and an Important Figure in the National Struggle (Alfred Bielinski – Alfred Rüstem Bey)"), stated that he tried to find any proof that Ahmet Rustem had children in the Retirement Fund Office archives but could not find any. English translation by Stephen Cambron, as The World War and the Turco-Armenian Question. The e-book was made available online. There is also a Turkish translation. La Turquie devant le tribunal mondial – son passé, son présent, son avenir. Wasti stated that this work had not been located.

Wasti stated "Work needs to be done even to compile a reliable list of the writings of Ahmed Rüstem Bey."