Cigalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha Cigalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha ( 1545 – 1605 ) , his epithet meaning " son of Cicala " , was an Ottoman statesman who held the office of Grand Vizier for forty days between 27 October to 5 December 1596 , during the reign of Mehmed III . He was born in Genoa or Messina around 1545 , as a member of the aristocratic Genoese family of Cicala . His Christian name was Scipione Cicala . His father , a Viscount ( di Cicala ) , was , according to Gerlach , a corsair in the service of Spain , while his mother is said to have been a Turk from Castelnuovo ( Herceg Novi today ) . The Visconte and his son , captured at the Battle of Djerba by the Ottoman navy in 1560 or 1561 , were taken first to Tripoli in North Africa and then to Constantinople . The father was in due course ransomed from captivity and , after living for some time at Beyoğlu ( Pera ) , returned to Messina , where he died in 1564 . His son , Scipione , was not released , but was inducted into the Ottoman corps of young boys to be trained for imperial service . He converted , as was required , to Islam and was trained in the Imperial palace , rising to the rank of " silahtar " . He eventually married , first one ( 1573 ) and then ( 1576 ) another great - granddaughter of Süleyman the Magnificent . He found himself assured of wealth , high office and protection at the Porte . In 1574 , he successfully led an Ottoman fleet of between 250 and 300 warships and about 75 , 000 men in the landslide Capture of Tunis . He became Agha of the Janissaries in 1575 and retained this office until 1578 . During the next phase of his career he saw much active service in the long Ottoman - Persian war of 1578 - 1590 . He was " beylerbey " ( governor - general ) of Van in 1583 , and assumed command , in the same year , of the great fortress of Erivan , being raised to the rank of vizier at the same time . He also played a prominent role , once more as Beylerley of Van , in the campaign of 1585 against Tabriz . As Beylerbey of Bayazıt , an appointment which he received in 1586 , he fought with success in western Persia during the last years of the war , bringing Nihavand and Hamadan under Ottoman control . After the peace of 1590 , he was made governor of Erzurum , and in 1591 , became Kapudan Pasha or Grand Admiral of the Ottoman fleet . He held this office until 1595 . During the third Grand Vizierate ( 1593 – 1595 ) of Koca Sinan Pasha he was promoted to Fourth Vizier . At that time , the Ottomans had been at war with Austria since 1593 . Cağaloğlu Yusuf Sinan Pasha , by then appointed Third Vizier , accompanied Sultan Mehmed III on the Hungarian campaign of 1596 . He tried in vain to relieve the fortress of Hatvan , which fell in September 1596 . He was present at the successful Ottoman siege of Eger ( " Eğri " ) ( September – October 1596 ) and at the Battle of Mezö - Keresztes in October 1596 and took part in the final assault that turned an imminent defeat into a notable triumph for the Ottomans . In reward for his services , he was made Grand Vizier , but the discontent arising from the measures which he used in an effort to restore discipline amongst the Ottoman forces , the troubles which followed his intervention in the affairs of the Crimean Tatars , and the existence at court of powerful influences eager to restore Damat İbrahim Pasha to the Grand Vizierate , brought about his deposition from this office after 40 days . He was Beylerbey of Damascus from December 1597 to January 1598 . In May 1599 , he was made Kapudan Pasha for the second time . In 1604 , he assumed command of the eastern front , where a new war between the Ottomans and the Persians had broken out in the preceding year . His campaign of 1605 was unsuccessful , the forces he led towards Tabriz suffering defeat near the shore of Lake Urmia . Cağaloğlu had to withdraw to the fortress of Van and thence in the direction of Diyarbekir . He died in the course of this retreat in December 1605 . He was ancestor of İlhan İrem , who is a famous Turkish pop singer . The Cağaloğlu quarter in İstanbul , a household name in Turkey for having been the equivalent of London ' s Fleet Street as the press center , and where Cağaloğlu Yusuf Sinan Pasha had constructed a palace and a hammam ( Turkish bath ) , is named after him and carries his name to this day . The bath was reconstructed in 1741 . The song " " Sinàn Capudàn Pascià " " by the Genoese singer - songwriter Fabrizio De André tells the story of Sinan Pasha . It is completely in Genoese dialect and is part of the album " Crêuza de mä " .