THE EFFECT OF SWEDISH KING XII. CHARLES' SEEKING REFUGE IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE (1709-1714) ON THE RISE OF OMBUDSMAN

The fact that the Swedish King Charles XII, known as “Demirba？ ？arl” in our literature, sought refuge in the Ottoman Empire via ？zi and Bender, as being wounded after the defeat of the Russians in Poltava in 1709 is a turning point in the Swedish-Otoman relations. This asylum, originally planned for 8 days by the King, was extended to a considerably long period of 5 years, 3 months and 9 days in total, due to such reasons as the return roads’ being insecure, the need for military service, monetary deficiency and, most particularly, the policy followed by the Swedish King with an aim to cause a war between the Russia and the Ottoman Empire. After all, this period not only held rich amount of data in relation to the diplomacy of the statesmen and activities of “sefirs” during III. Ahmed reign, but also witnessed the appointment of an ombudsman by the King. Therefore, this study aims to shed light onto the historical events grounding the formation of the concept of ombudsman and how the ombudsman turned into an institution inspecting the government on behalf of the parliament from the representative of the King