Originally a provincial jurist, he became the director of foreign correspondence of Crete beginning in 1861, and then from 1867 the Smyrna (today known as İzmir) directeur politique ("political director") and vice-governor.
[1] He served as Ottoman Minister in Washington from 1873 to 1883[citation needed] with Alexandros Mavrogenis.
Sinan Kuneralp, author of "Ottoman Diplomatic and Consular Personnel in the United States of America, 1867-1917," argued that his relationship with Midhat Pasha was the "more likely" reason why he was fired, while the official accusation was that Aristarchis misused money from a weapons deal.
After the fall of Abdul Hamid II he served as an Ottoman envoy to the Netherlands, where he died.
Aristarchis is named in most volumes, except for 6–7,[1] which, according to Strauss, "seem to have been edited solely by Demetrius Nicolaides".