He held military and administrative posts such as the Governorship of Manastır in 1903, after which he was exiled to Libya upon the pressure exercised by Russia, since the Russian consul of the city had been assassinated during his tenure.

With the beginning of the Second Constitutional Era in the Ottoman Empire in 1908, he became the Minister of War in grand vizier Kıbrıslı Mehmed Kamil Pasha's government but had to be removed due to objections raised by the Committee of Union and Progress.

He was re-appointed to the same ministry in Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha's cabinet in 1909 but gave his demission because of the 31 March Incident.

Appointed as supervisor for the European armies of the Ottoman Empire, the Balkan Wars erupted before he even had the time to assume his duties.

Never favored by the Committee of Union and Progress, his career succumbed to silence during the single-party regime[citation needed] of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.