Suleiman I

As he crushed a coup attempt this summer and sent troops into Syria, Mr. Erdogan may even have thought of Suleiman I, the 16th-century emperor who died on this day in 1566, after a 46-year reign that is considered the pinnacle of the Ottoman golden age.

Suleiman I, whose raunchy portrayal in a Turkish soap opera has outraged the country's prime minister.

There once the Sultan dwelt in the Eski-Serai, which exists no longer, and there was built the great Summer Palace, which was inhabited by Suleiman I, and by his successors.

“Thank you, Suleiman,” I said.

One of the best, certainly the best in Turkish poetry, is the elegy by Baqui on the great Sultan Suleiman I, translated by E. J. W. Gibb in Ottoman Poetry.