 On 3 December 1913 Weber was selected to participate in the newly inaugurated German Military Mission (Militärmission) to the Ottoman Empire, headed by Liman von Sanders.On 8 December Weber was formally granted retirement from active service in the German Imperial Army prior to his transfer to the Ottoman Army, and he was among the first contingent of 10 German officers to arrive in Istanbul later that month.He was initially appointed Inspector-General of Engineers (İstihkam Müfettişi) attached to the Ottoman Ministry of War, with the higher Ottoman rank of Mirliva (= German Generalmajor).