Polish Diplomats in Istanbul from the Treaty of Karlowitz to the Treaty of Lausanne 1699-1923

Ottoman-Polish relations have different characters after the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699). While wars and conflicts had been lasted between two sides, diplomacy came to the fore for the continuation of the peace and the relations with the other states in the common area. On the other hand, Poland-Lithuania was one of states which sent to the most frequent and large number of envoys to the Ottomans after the establishment of the diplomatic relations. Many Polish diplomats were sent to Istanbul for various reasons, from the Treaty of Karlowitz to the third partition of Poland in 1795. Rafał Leszczyński, Stanisław Chomętowski, Jan Wandalin Mniszech, Tomasz Aleksandrowicz, Karol Boscamp Lasopolski, Franciszek Piotr Potocki were only some of them. Also after the third partition of Poland, some Polish diplomats came to Ottoman capital as representatives of Polish government in the XIXth century. Some Polish diplomats also completed their missions in Istanbul after Poland regained its independence in 1918. There is not a complete list of the Polish envoys and diplomats who came to Ottoman capital for the reasons as confirmation of the Treaty of Karlowitz and determination of the borders of the two sides, the question of the Swedish King Charles XII, congratulations to the throne, the new king elections, the renewal of the political and commercial treaties, reflections and affects of the some wars and problems occurred in Europe, to gain support of the Porte for the Polish independence movement in the XIXth century and to establish the relations between two states after the First World War. In this regard, with this article it is essential to provide a current list of the Polish envoys and diplomats from the Karlowitz to the Lausanne and to present some new information and documents about the mentioned Polish diplomats according to both Turkish and Polish archives and other sources. So, in their 600th year, intention of Turkish-Polish relations after the Treaty of Karlowitz and its importance in the European politics is presented in the extend of the diplomats