In 1902 Ibrahim Pasha was given the actual rank of "paşa" (equivalent to Brigadier) at the occasion of a visit to the Ottoman capital Constantinople (Istanbul). He established his rule over Viranşehir and encouraged Christian craftsmen and traders, mainly Armenians and Chaldeans, to settle there. During the Armenian massacres of 1895 committed also by several Hamidiye paramilitary troops (therefore also called 'Hamidian' massacres), Ibrahim Pasha is said to have protected and saved a considerable number of Christians. In 1906 Ibrahim Pasha went to Damascus, where he was deployed to secure the construction of the German-Ottoman Hijaz railway project.