[citation needed] Zaro Aga had come into Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's presence twice and called him "Sultan".

Turkish newspaper Taraf wrote that when Zaro met with Mustafa Kemal, he mentioned his having done very good jobs, but he allegedly criticised his giving much freedom to the women.

[7] During his lifetime surgeons treating Aga for an internal complaint examined X-Rays of his bones and cast doubt on his claimed age, suggesting he was not more than 120 years old.

Aga lived in relative anonymity until 1930, when someone, hearing his stories about meeting Napoleon and the Sultan of Turkey, pointed out that he had a claim to be the world's oldest man, and he began a public life with a tour of the US.

For the remainder of his life he told stories to the coffee house patrons not of meeting Napoleon, but of his travels to New York and London.

His arrival in the United States on July 18, 1930 is referenced in the 1930 Gershwin-Guy Bolton-Jack McGowan musical comedy Girl Crazy.