In 1687 an army rebellion made his brother-in-law Abaza Siyavuş Pasha grand vizier and forced sultan Mehmed IV to abdicate in favor of his brother Süleyman II.

[6] After the Austrian victory at The Second Battle of Mohács, sultan Suleiman II was persuaded to appoint Köprülü Fazıl Mustafa Pasha as his grand vizier on 25 October 1689.

They were replaced with men loyal to Fazıl Mustafa Pasha, who also aided the treasury by implementing strict military rolls, thereby preventing soldiers from collecting the salaries of their deceased comrades.

[9] Having suffered from factionalism in the court and government, Fazıl Mustafa Pasha attempted to limit the number of viziers in the imperial council.

[10] The course of the ongoing Great Turkish War worsened when Russia began its involvement and formally joined an alliance of European powers by launching the devastating Crimean campaigns.

The Ottomans suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Army in Hungary, nicknamed "Türkenlouis" (Louis the Turk) for his victories.

Called "the bloodiest battle of the century" by contemporaries, the defeat at Slankemen cost the lives of 20,000 men and the Ottoman's most capable military commander.