His assignments were semi-official and one could state that he was a kind of modern-day political agent trying to forge alliances within the realm of secret diplomacy.

He was one of the prime instigators of the revolt, during which he became known by the epithet Yero (Greek: "γέρο" meaning "elder one"), as Yero-Tsamis or Yero-Karatasos.

Karatasos strongly believed that only a Greek-Serbian agreement could accelerate the process of driving the Ottoman presence from the Balkans.

In 1859 he made his claims public by writing articles in a Greek newspaper, whilst cajoled the representatives Serbian community in Greece in order to get support and advice for his goal.

During his stay he died from unspecified reasons, presumably from an illness, while planning another uprising.A few months later King Otto was expelled from the country due to a popular uprising.