Ottoman Zionist Diplomacy: The Repercussions of Abdülhamid-Herzl Correspondence From 1882 onwards, the Ottoman government under the rule of Abdülhamid II pursued a policy of restrictions and prohibitions against Jewish settlement and land purchase in Palestine. In May 1901, Abdülhamid II and Theodor Herzl met at the Y?ld?z Palace in Istanbul to discuss Herzl’s proposal for the consolidation of the Ottoman public debt in return for a charter that would allow Jews to settle in Palestine as a nation. Instead of a charter, Herzl returned from Istanbul with decorations of the sultan as a symbolic manifestation of sultanic munificence. While Abdülhamid-Herzl correspondence marked a fundamental chapter in Zionist diplomacy, it indicated the resoluteness of Abdülhamid’s regime in its objection to any Zionist activity regarding Palestine. From the Ottoman perspective, Herzl offered Abdülhamid to export another national problem, the “Jewish Question”, to his domain that had already been under the threat of disintegration as a result of the national uprisings in the Balkans. The period (1882-1905) discussed in my paper marks the culmination of the Ottoman-Zionist diplomacy. The results of Abdülhamid-Herzl meetings in Istanbul led the political camp in the World Zionist Organization to search for an alternative to Palestine that yielded the Uganda crisis of 1903. In my paper, in addition to examining Herzl’s expectations and motivations, which were fairly well-documented in his diaries, I will primarily focus on the Ottoman side. Why did Abdülhamid admit Herzl to the Palace despite his inveterate opposition to a Zionist settlement in Palestine? What did Abdülhamid know about Zionism and Herzl’s other political activities in Europe? Comparing the differences (if any) in the Ottoman policy before and after the Abdülhamid-Herzl correspondence, first I will highlight whether Herzl’s diplomatic efforts led to changes of any kind in the Ottoman attitude towards Zionism, second I will evaluate the repercussions of this Ottoman-Zionist diplomacy on the process of the Zionist settlement in Palestine and on the internal politics of Zionism. The Ottoman archives in Turkey (Turkish Republic Prime Ministry Archives in Istanbul) constitute the principal primary source base for my paper, especially the documents of Y?ld?z Palace which consist of all official and personal documents and newspapers located in the palace, the residence of Abdülhamid II during his reign. I will support my archival source base with the data in the published memoirs and letters of the leading Ottoman and Zionist figures.