Ottoman statesmen already saw European naval power as a mortal threat by the 1510s.

Evidence

When Sultan Selim I (1512–20), who had already added Egypt and Syria to the Ottoman realms, remarked to his chief adviser that he intended to conquer the land of the Franks, the adviser replied: “My Sultan, you live in a city whose benefactor is the sea. When the sea is unsafe, no ship comes; when no ship comes, Istanbul’s prosperity is lost.” — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 678

Categorization

• CANDY: A vivid quotation — an Ottoman grand vizier warning his sultan that the sea is the city’s benefactor — perfect elevator-conversation material about early modern geopolitics.
• SHARE: The adviser’s warning contradicts the image of an unconcerned great power; would interest anyone working on Ottoman naval decline.