(Levant)
	The foreign post offices in the Ottoman Empire
	The seed for the creation of these post offices was  the preference of having
	private deliveries made by the embassies(Consular offices).The Austrian and Russian
	embassies managed having private postmen protected by Ottoman soldiers within
	the boundaries of the territory (1721).When these services became regular, the
	British and German embassies started using these facilities too  (1729).
	The legal permission to operate these services were given to Egypt in 1720 and
	for Austria in 1739.This legalization was achived by Russia in 1783 , by France in 1812,
	by Great Britain in 1832, by Greece in 1834 , by Germany in 1870 , by Italy in 1908.
	The attempt of operating Roumanian office in 1896 proved to be a failure.
	The operation of these offices created an annual loss of 13 mi.Francs.Beside this loss
	it was a loss of prestige for the Ottoman government which insisted in the abolition of
	these privilages.The only  success was in 1881 when the operation of the Egyptian,Greek
	and Italian post was terminated.Following efforts  in 1895 and  in 1901 with the commencement
	of operation of Salonica port had no positive conclusions.On the contrary the continous
	pressure by the Italian government succeeded in their operation in 1908.The continous
	efforts to make Ottoman Postal services more  competetive by using new and fast  routes
	or by giving discounted rates for mails abroad was not sufficient to overhelm the operation
	of the foreign offices which summed up to a total of 103 majorly located in Constantinople :
	37 Austrian offices , 24 French , 20 Russian, 8 German , 9 Italian and 5 British.
	Finally , as a result of a long diplomatic and political struggle , in 1-10-1914 the Ottoman government
	managed to overcome with success all the difficulties and  closed all foreign post offices within the
	Ottoman Empire's territory  until 1918 where most of them reopened.
	Stamps of the AUSTRIAN post office
	Stamps of the BRITISH  post office
	Stamps of the FRENCH post office
	Stamps of the GERMAN post office
	Stamps of the ITALIAN post office
	Stamps of the POLISH  post office
	Stamps of the ROUMANIAN post office
	Stamps of the RUSSIAN post office
	by : Ioannis Stantzopoulos
	* References : Pulhan Catalog
	Stanley Gibbons
	Yvert & Tellier
	Michel