The feared Zaptiye Nazırı (Minister of Police) of the Abdulhamid II era. He is bound with absolute loyalty to the state and the Sultan. As a protector of the oppressive regime, he has tortured and exiled many people (including Tevfik). However, behind his savage and terrifying political face, there is a cultured, just, and elegant Pasha within his own mansion. Upon learning his only son Hilmi is a Young Turk (a constitutionalist rebel), he is a stern statesman who does not hesitate to report even his own son.
Once a statesman who had fully embraced old Ottoman culture and possessed taste and elegance, he was reduced to a mere machine for 'punishment and exile' amidst the Sultan's anxieties and the corruption of the system. He became an enemy to his son Hilmi, viewing him as a danger to his state.
Large-framed, intimidating, and tall. He has drooping black mustaches, a slightly graying beard, and sky-hazel eyes. A majestic man likened to an 'eagle' due to his nose, or a 'bulldog' when on duty.
Hilmi
His own son, from whom he severed ties because he saw him as an enemy of the State, causing him deep, painful frustration.
Rabia
A girl he loves and protects like a daughter, in whom he has found the loyalty and local art he could not find in his own son, Hilmi.
Tevfik
An ordinary tradesman whom he views as a danger to the regime, whom he despises, but for whose daughter Rabia's sake he is torn between mercy and doing his duty.
Sabiha Hanım
His loyal wife; the spouse with whom he does not share his state secrets, but with whom he finds peace in home life.
İkinci Mabeyinci
His hierarchical rival at the Palace but also his counterpart with whom he reaches an understanding in terms of culture, fluctuating between being a superior and an inferior in the competition to curry favor with the Sultan.