Ahmed Elci (1886-1922) was an Ottoman Army colonel who served in World War I and the Turkish War of Independence. Elci was the right-hand man of Osman Bey, the Governor of Balikesir, and he employed cruel tactics such as public hangings to put down Turkish nationalist unrest in western Anatolia. In 1922, he was assigned to escort the Bey's daughters and their guardian Aila, a hidden shipment of gold-plated lead, the jewels of Suleiman the Magnificent, and the Caliph Uthman's Quran from Balikesir to Cairo, while under the guise of making a pilgrimage to Mecca. He hired mercenary assistance from Josh Corey and Adam Dyer's band of mercenaries, and, during the journey, he attempted to recruit Dyer into a plot to betray the dying Ottoman Empire and split the gold between them, as Elci intended to spend the rest of his life in Rome rather than remain loyal to a losing cause. Elci secretly double-dealed, making a similar offer to Aila upon reaching Manisa. While the Greek Army attacked the town, Elci attempted to flee with Aila and Captain Enver Bayraktar and the convoy's treasures, but, when Aila noticed that Elci intended to ambush and kill Corey as he entered the bedchamber where they were plotting, Aila stabbed Elci in the side, betraying and killing him.
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