After working as a bureaucrat in various posts, he retired from being the Ottoman governor of Rumelia Eyalet (eastern Thrace).
After a series of military failures, Constantinople, the capital of the empire, fell into chaos.
On 2 March 1688, he was appointed as full grand vizier by the sultan Süleyman II.
During this term, he attempted to stem corruption, gaining him many enemies in the palace.
Now grand vizier, Köprülü Fazıl Mustafa accused Ayaşlı İsmail Pasha of seizing Abaza Siyavuş Pasha's fortune and asked for the fortune in return for pardon.