Treaty of Hünkâr Iskelesi | 1833

Mavi Boncuk |

Treaty of Hünkâr Iskelesi (1833)

The first nineteenth-century crisis to bring about European intervention was the Greek War of Independence (1821-32). In 1827 an Anglo-French fleet destroyed the Ottoman and Egyptian fleets at the Battle of Navarino, while the Russian army advanced as far as Edirne before a cease-fire was called in 1829. The European powers forced the Porte to recognize Greek independence under the London Convention of 1832.

Muhammad Ali, an Ottoman officer who had been designated pasha of Egypt by the sultan in 1805, had given substantial aid to the Ottoman cause in the Greek war. When he was not rewarded as promised for his assistance, he invaded Syria in 1831 and pursued the retreating Ottoman army deep into Anatolia. In desperation, the Porte appealed to Russia for support. Britain then intervened, constraining Muhammad Ali to withdraw from Anatolia to Syria. The price the sultan paid Russia for its assistance was the Treaty of Hünkar Iskelesi of 1833.

Alliance between the Ottoman Empire and Russia, signed at the village of Hünkâr Iskelesi near Istanbul.The treaty made the Ottoman Empire a virtual protectorate of Russia.
In return for Russian military aid, the Ottoman sultan, Mahmud II, agreed to a secret article in their mutual defense treaty that closed the Dardanelles Strait to any foreign vessels of war except those of Russia.

War with Muhammad Ali resumed in 1839, and Ottoman forces were again defeated. Russia waived its rights under the 1833 treaty and aligned itself with British efforts to support the Ottoman Empire militarily and diplomatically. Under the London Convention of 1840, Muhammad Ali was forced to abandon his claim to Syria, but he was recognized as hereditary ruler of Egypt under nominal Ottoman suzerainty. When other countries became suspicious of the agreement, in 1841 the Porte undertook to close the straits to warships of all powers Under an additional protocol and Russia also abandoned its Dardanelles privileges.