The brother of Mehmed V , he succeeded to the throne as the eldest male member of the House of Osman after the 1916 suicide of Abdülaziz 's son Yusuf Izzettin Efendi , the heir to the throne .
He succeeded his brother , Mehmed V , as the eldest male member of the House of Osman after the 1916 suicide of the heir to the throne , Yusuf Izzettin Efendi .