Antoni Aleksander Ilinski Polish, then Turkish military leader. Country: Turkey

1. Jozef Bem's Early Life and Polish Involvement
2. Expedition to Portugal and Military Service Abroad
3. Arrest and Conversion to Islam
4. Collaboration with Bem and Service in Crimea
5. Middle Eastern Campaigns and Death

Jozef Bem's Early Life and Polish Involvement

Jozef Bem (later known as Mehmed İskender Pasha) was born in Žilina, present-day Slovakia. As a young officer in the Lithuanian Legion, he joined the Polish Uprising in 1830. Subsequently, he became an active member of the conservative wing of Polish émigrés led by Adam Jerzy Czartoryski.

Expedition to Portugal and Military Service Abroad

In 1833, Bem unsuccessfully attempted to form a Polish legion to overthrow the Portuguese regime with Józef Bem. He went on to participate in the Siege of Herat (1836) before joining the French army in Algeria, fighting against Abd el-Kader.

Arrest and Conversion to Islam

In 1844, Bem was arrested in Constantinople at the request of the Russian government for collaborating with Michał Czajkowski. To escape prosecution, he converted to Islam, assuming the name Mehmed İskender. Upon his conversion, he was immediately released and accepted into the Ottoman army as a major under the name İskender-Bey.

Collaboration with Bem and Service in Crimea

Bem again became an aide to Bem in Hungary during 1848-1849. He then served in Rumelia under Ömer Lütfi-Paşa. With the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1853, İskender-Bey was tasked with organizing and training Bashi-Bazouk detachments along the Danube. His successful cavalry attacks against Russian positions earned him promotions, and in early 1855, he was transferred to Eupatoria with command of a 400-man cavalry detachment. His unit played a crucial role in repelling the Russian assault on Eupatoria, for which İskender-Bey was awarded the Pasha title, equivalent to general.

Middle Eastern Campaigns and Death

In the same year, he was appointed commander of the advance guard of Ömer Pasha's army, which landed in Sukhumi to relieve the siege of Kars. However, Kars fell to the Russian army before Ömer Pasha's forces could arrive. In 1857, Ömer Pasha was transferred to Baghdad, and Mehmed İskender Pasha was summoned there. He spent four years in Baghdad, suppressing uprisings in Najd and around Basra. Upon returning to Constantinople in 1861, he suddenly fell ill after an official reception and died on June 2, 1861. He was buried in Istanbul.