Early in his military career, he was posted to Yemen Vilayet, where he led the campaign against El-Idrisi's (and other) uprisings.

He was General Chief-of-Staff during the Balkan Wars of 1912-13 during which he successfully defended Istanbul against the Bulgarians.

He retired from the Ottoman Military before the First World War and served as a Senator and a cabinet minister twice (for Education and Agriculture).

Hadi Pasha was sent to Paris in 1920 to negotiate and sign the very controversial Treaty of Sèvres, along with Reşat Halis and Rıza Tevfik.

Because of his role in this, Hadi Pasha was considered one of the 150 persona non grata by the Republic of Turkey, along with the other signatories of the treaty and the Ottoman imperial family itself.