THE EFFICACY OF OTTOMAN COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE IN THE 16TH CENTURY
THE EFFICACY OF OTTOMAN COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE IN THE 16TH CENTURY

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the Ottoman counter-intelligence mechanism and the extent to which it succeeded in preventing enemy intelligence. In the 16th century, the length and the scope of both Ottoman–Habsburg and the Ottoman Safavid Rivalry convinced the Ottomans to establish an intelligence network that gathered information in a large geography. Nevertheless, in the war of information between the Ottomans and their rivals, the success of Ottoman information-gathering was intertwined with the efficiency of Ottoman counter-intelligence. In order to gain an advantage in “politics of information”, the Ottoman secret diplomacy successfully refused its enemies a comfort which it sought for itself: access to information about the adversary.

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