As regent
With the death of her rival, Turhan became the Valide Sultan. As a regent, Turhan wielded great power. She accompanied her son to important meetings and on several occasions spoke from behind her curtained sitting place. She was deeply loved and respected by her son. Due to her inexperience, Turhan relied on other members of the government to advise her on political matters. This is evident from her correspondence to the grand viziers.
Turhan Sultan, who assumed her Regency in 1651 upon the death of her mother-in law immediately raised her daily salary from 2,000 aspers a day to 3,000 aspres a day, around her neck she wore pearl seal with inscribed words Valide-I Gazi Sultan Mehmed Han (lit. The Mother of Warrior Sultan Mehmed Han) which was given to her when she became Valide Sultan.
She was able to stabilize the political chaos quickly that took place after the murder of Kösem Sultan, and brought the state into Peace. Unlike Kosem Sultan, she always consulted Ministers and Viziers for taking decisions and implementing those, for better administration and also due to her inexperience as she was only 24 years old, when she assumed the position of Regent. As Regent, she was frequently involved in State affairs, she headed the imperial council, took the decisions of the state, controlled the treasury and appointments of all statesmen and even Ulemma, implemented laws and signed documents, and headed the Ottoman Army in Military Campaign particularly during the Crete Campaign.
Tarhuncu Ahmed Pasha, who was appointed as the Grand Vizier during the reign of Sultan Mehmed IV, worked to conquer Crete, re-establish the navy and organize the state budget. Tarhuncu Ahmed Pasha, who became the Grand Vizier in 1652, limited the unnecessary gifts and gratuities given in order to balance the budget. Tarhuncu Ahmed Pasha, who tried to reduce palace expenses and prepared the fiscal year budget in advance for the first time, was executed for various reasons in 1653.
Turhan Sultan tried to establish a strong power after Kösem Sultan’s assassination. She tried to use the treasury and gunpowder resources, which were limited due to the Crete Campaign, to the best level. The Valide Sultan, who established a wide intelligence network, was interested in every event and checked the soldiers' salaries, the progress of the campaign and even whether the shipyard was running smoothly. It can be said that Turhan Sultan was one of the most powerful Valide Sultans of the Ottoman Empire through her 164 letters currently in Topkapı Palace.
Tarhuncu Ahmed Pasha set out to close the treasury deficit, eliminate the instability in the value of the currency, increase customs revenues, reduce palace and dockyard expenses, and prevent corruption. For this reason, those whose interests were harmed by Tarhuncu Ahmed Pasha's actions, both within the state and outside the state, began to become enemies and to sharpen their teeth against him. First, a group of ulema took action against the grand vizier, and in addition to them, bazaar tradesmen and the Kapıkulu sipahis, who had become accustomed to participating in all kinds of actions against the government of the day, joined this movement. These events were calmed down somewhat by appointing Bahai Efendi as the sheikh-ul-Islam . For the first time in the Ottoman State, a board was established to learn the state's revenues and expenses in detail and to prepare a state budget. This board examined the state's books for approximately 10 years between 1643 and 1652, the last year of Kemankeṣ Kara Mustafa Pasha 's term as grand vizier. During this period, state revenues had become 5,329 burdens due to the introduction of new taxes (especially the "mill tax" and the "household tax"); state expenditures had been reduced from about 6,000 burdens in 1643 to about 5,500 burdens in 1650.
In addition, for the first time in the Ottoman State's financial system, a budget book called the Tarhuncu budget was prepared for the next year, that is, for the Hijri year 1060, which began in 1652. According to this budget, it was calculated that the total state income from the jizya, avarız, and mukataat fees coming from the provincial provinces in a year in Hijri 1060 would be 5,329 burdens. State expenditures would include the janissary corps, acemioğlan corps, gardener and baltacı ulufes, and the palace, shipyard, navy, istabl-i amire, cebecihane, gunhouse, etc. expenses, which would be 6,872 burdens. It was known that state budget problems constantly arose. According to the "Tarhuncu Budget", it was calculated that the state budget deficit for the Hijri year 1060 would be approximately 1,600 burdens. Although most of the budget problems arose from this budget deficit, it was also necessary to understand that some of them were short-term liquidity problems, that is, despite the continuous state expenditures, the revenues in the provinces were not collected on time, were not sent to the center at the planned time, and were not regular. After the detailed budget book was prepared, Tarhuncu Ahmed Pasha started to make cuts, especially in the spending of the palace and then of the state dignitaries. This cut in spending earned him many enemies.
On November 20, 1652, a fire broke out in Esir Han, close to the Istanbul markets, and caused great damage in the Çarşıkapı, Gedikpaşa, Çemberlitaş, Mahmutpaşa, Beyazıt and Mercan neighborhoods, where the capital's markets were densely populated. This damage brought the problem of financial distress back to the agenda in the capital. In order to find short-term finance, the treasury officer borrowed 15 bags and granted the privilege of "Candle Emin" to a non-Muslim named "Devletoğlu". Baltacılar from the palace and the mansions of dignitaries began to erode Devletoğlu's shop, which was the administrative center, with requests for coffee, candles and sugar. This led to clashes between the baltacılar and Devletoğlu's men, and Devletoğlu was personally threatened with a beating. Finally, realizing that he could not cope with the problems, Devletoğlu disappeared without being able to get back the cash loan he had given to the treasury officer.
Sultan Mehmed IV was still a child. The state officials, even in the presence of the sultan, were constantly in fierce competition and even conflict with each other. Tarhuncu Ahmed Pasha's enemies, especially Turhan Sultan, were inciting the child sultan to take action against the grand vizier . Finally, the slander of these enemies that the grand vizier would dethrone the sultan united the courtiers and a decree was issued to remove Tarhuncu Ahmed Pasha from the position of grand vizier. On March 21, 1653, the day of Nevruz, while the grand vizier was in the shipyard for naval affairs after presenting the sultan with his New Year's gifts, he was invited to the palace and entered the Hasbahçe by sea, where he was welcomed by the girls' ağası (darüssaâde ağası) and received his grand vizier seal back. His term as grand vizier lasted for about 9 months. Koca Dervish Mehmed Pasha was appointed in his place .
The state was in great financial trouble and despite all the efforts and endeavors of the previous Grand Vizier Tarhuncu Ahmet Pasha, these problems could not be solved successfully. In order to prevent the state's affairs, especially its finances, from suddenly falling into disarray, Defterdar Zurnazen Mustafa Pasha was left in his place. However, since the financial situation did not improve and even showed signs of deterioration, Grand Vizier Koca Derviş Mehmed Pasha gave his chief servant Moralı Mustafa Ağa, whom he considered to be a state dignitary who held himself back, the title of beylerbeyi and appointed him as the Defterdar . However, the new Defterdar Moralı Mustafa was a greedy person and wanted to take over the office of Grand Vizier. For this reason, although he openly appeared loyal to the Grand Vizier, he began to work in his favor, first secretly but later on, and which the Grand Vizier learned about. To this end, he began to offer gifts and permissiveness to the palace and the mother sultan. This led to a significant crisis at the highest levels of the state. regency was marred by at least two factors: the war with the Venetians for the island of Crete, and the financial crisis that arose from the high expenses of waging war. Weak grand viziers did not improve the situation. However, in 1656 Köprülü Mehmed Pasha was appointed to the position of grand vizier. His condition upon accepting the post was that he be given greater authority than his predecessors. Thus, Turhan transferred her political power to that of the grand vizier, thus ending her Regency.
In 1657, during the long-term residence of Mehmed in Edirne due to the expeditions, Turhan Sultan was with him. During the short-term departure of Edirne, one of the viziers was appointed to supervise the sultan. She traveled to Istanbul from time to time while her son was on a long trip. It is known that a few years after the commencement of the round trips to Edirne, she built a flat (Avcı Sultan Mehmed Khan Apartment / Dolmabahçe Pavilion) in her palace in 1661. Turhan Sultan went to Babadağı with her son, who left Edirne and moved in the direction of Kamaniçe with a ceremony on 5 June 1672 for the Polish expedition.
The army decided to stay here until he returned from the expedition, and one of the dome viziers, İbrâhim Pasha, was commissioned with the guard. Meanwhile, her grandson Şehzade Mustafa (later Mustafa II), who was eight years old, was with her. However, her residence in Babadağı did not last until the return of the army. When the army arrived at Edirne, Turhan Sultan was in Istanbul. Mehmed sent the second vizier Mustafa Pasha to Istanbul to bring his mother before a week passed.
Gülnuş Sultan attempted to have her husband's brothers Suleiman II and Ahmed II strangled after Mustafa was born, but Turhan had hindered these attempted murders. Turhan is the youngest women to ever become Valide Sultan at 21 and remained as the longest serving Valide Sultan in the Ottoman history for over 35 years, suppressing even the reigns of many Ottoman Sultans. She was also the youngest women to ever assume the position of Regent in the Ottoman and in the Islamic history.
