Ministry of the Interior (Ottoman Empire)
The Ministry of the Interior was from 1860 the interior ministry of the Ottoman Empire, based in Constantinople.
History
Previously the Grand Vizier, upon the counsel of his advisor, managed the internal affairs of the state, but in 1860 a western-style ministry of the interior was established as part of a reform of the empire's administration. In 1839 an interior ministry detached from the Lieutenant of the Grand Vizier, or the sadaret kethüdası but was consolidated back into the Grand Vezierate's office two years later. Interior matters were handled by the undersecretary . After Fuad Pasha's death, Âli Pasha separated the offices again on 18 February, 1869.Functions
The Ministry of the Interior held the responsibility for central administration of all internal matters of the empire. It received communiques and proposals from the provinces, from which some would be sent to legislative organs or the sultan. New laws which came from an İrade, or a sultan's pronouncement of approval, would be executed by the ministry. In its portfolio were all operations and personnel associated with security, police forces, local administrations, and the control over all bureaucrats outside the central government.During the Tanzimat era the Ministry of the Interior maintained three inspectorates: Rumeli, Anatolia, and the Arab world. Commissions were maintained to maintain health and sanitation, and of the affairs of the Holy Cities.
Organization
According to the Corps de droit ottoman, the ministry included:- Census Bureau
- Bureau of Emigrants
- Passport Bureau
- Pension Fund Directorate
- Directorate of Internal Press
- Commission for the Selection of Employees
- Department of Service Staff
Other departments included:
- Office for the Settlement of Tribes and Immigrants
- Department of Public Security and Dispatches
- Cipher Office
- Directorate of General Security
Ottoman Refugee Commission