Mehmed Ali could compel the Ottoman Porte by threatening to withdraw troops

Evidence

Seeing that his requests to depose Husrev went unanswered, Mehmed Ali finally resorted to threat. He wrote to the Sublime Porte saying that unless Husrev were removed from the command of the navy and unless his son were given a free hand to conduct military operations as he saw best, he would ask Ibrahim to stop fighting the Greeks altogether. Fifteen days after the arrival of this “ultimatum” in Istanbul the Porte acceded to Mehmed Ali’s requests and Husrev was relieved of his post as Grand Admiral, adding another grudge to the number that the old man held against Mehmed Ali. Mehmed Ali then wrote to Ibrahim Pasha telling him not to obey any orders issued from Istanbul unless they were approved by him, i.e. Mehmed Ali, first. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 232

Categorization

• QUESTION: The Porte capitulating in just fifteen days to an Egyptian vassal’s ultimatum is remarkable - worth comparing to the standing directive on claims about how de facto power flowed between Cairo and Istanbul.