Background
He was born in Salonica/Thessaloniki in present day Greek Macedonia but then the most important city in the Ottoman Empire in Europe after Constantinople/Istanbul.
He was born in Salonica/Thessaloniki in present day Greek Macedonia but then the most important city in the Ottoman Empire in Europe after Constantinople/Istanbul.
Historian and biographer Patrick Kinross writes that "this can only be a matter for surmise". Ali Riza"s family comes from the village Kodžadžik, Centar Župa Municipality, Macedonia, where there is a memorial house.