Ottoman Anglophilia at the Porte aimed to use Britain against Russia and Mehmed Ali

Evidence

In contrast to the pro-Russian Husrev, Mustafa Rasid was decidedly an Anglophile. In 1833 he was actively involved in the negotiations of the peace of Kütahia which followed the Sultan’s defeat at the hands of Ibrahim Pasha. Like Palmerston, Rasid was dismayed at the opportunity that this defeat gave the Russians to increase their influence in Istanbul and he was disappointed at the British reluctance to assist the Sultan during the early months of the year. His disappointment at British policy was repeated five years later when he went to London in late 1838 after he had been appointed as Foreign Secretary to secure an alliance with Great Britain against Mehmed Ali to force him out of Syria. In spite of his failure in negotiating an agreement with Palmerston about joint military activities, Rasid Pasha remained convinced that it was only Britain which could curtail the power of the rebellious Pasha and thus stop Istanbul from slipping further in the Russian trap. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1582