Mehmed Ali openly planned grandiose military expansion beyond Egypt by 1825.

Evidence

I am now the most important man [l’homme du jour] in the entire Ottoman Empire. I have returned the Holy Cities [of Mecca and Medina] to the true believers; I have carried my victorious armies to places where the power of the Grand Signor [i.e. the Ottoman Sultan] was not known, and to places whose people had still not heard of gunpowder. My right arm, my son Ibrahim, will conquer Morea and the moment his mission is crowned with success, I shall call him back and return these lands to their legitimate master. I will call back my forces, raise [new] conscripts, complete my regiments and then grab the pashalɩks of Damascus and Acre … I will organize une grande armée and I shall not stop except at the Tigris and Euphrates. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 185

Categorization

• QUESTION: Was Mehmed Ali sincere about returning Morea to the Sultan, and how did his declared boundaries (Tigris and Euphrates) compare to actual expansion?