 |
| German Ambassador to Greece Ernst Reichel |
The ambassador's posts, related to the situation in Greece, have provoked strong reactions from the Greeks. In his posts, among other things, the ambassador asks: Dear haters, what upsets you here: That I sympathize with Ali Pasha, who rebelled against the Ottomans? Or that I don’t sympathize with him? And what has Ali Pasha to do with today’s situation?
Dear haters, what upsets you here: That I sympathize with Ali Pasha, who rebelled against the Ottomans? Or that I don’t sympathize with him? And what has Ali Pasha to do with today’s situation?— Ernst Reichel (@ReichelErnst) August 16, 2020
The ambassador's first post:
Ali Pasha, Ottoman governor aka Lion of Ioannina, tried to create an independent state in Epirus. He failed and was killed. His headless body was buried here. In another story, he had 18 local maidens drowned because they refused to join his harem.
Ali Pasha, Ottoman governor aka Lion of Ioannina, tried to create an independent state in Epirus. He failed and was killed. His headless body was buried here. In another story, he had 18 local maidens drowned because they refused to join his harem. pic.twitter.com/ospc7ZQ1gZ— Ernst Reichel (@ReichelErnst) August 16, 2020
But who is Ali Pasha
Ali Pasha (1740 – 24 January 1822), variously referred to as of Tepelena or of Janina/Yannina/Ioannina, or the Lion of Yannina, was an Ottoman Albanian ruler who served as pasha of a large part of western Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire's European territories, which was referred to as the Pashalik of Yanina.
Ali first appears in historical accounts as the leader of a band of brigands who became involved in many confrontations with Ottoman state officials in Albania and Epirus. He joined the administrative-military apparatus of the Ottoman Empire, holding various posts until 1788 when he was appointed pasha, ruler of the sanjak of Ioannina. His diplomatic and administrative skills, his interest in modernist ideas and concepts, his popular piety, his religious neutrality, his suppression of banditry, his vengefulness and harshness in imposing law and order, and his looting practices towards persons and communities in order to increase his proceeds caused both the admiration and the criticism of his contemporaries, as well as an ongoing controversy among historians regarding his personality. Finally falling afoul of the Ottoman central government, Ali Pasha was declared a rebel in 1820 and was killed in 1822 at the age of 81 or 82. In Western literature, Ali Pasha became the personification of an "oriental despot".