The pirate who became the commander of the Ottoman navy (4-4)
Saturday 18/April/2020 - 04:55 PM
Mahmoud El-Batakoushy
The Reference threw light in previous articles on the theft of refugee money and Syrian oil by the regime of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The same regime confiscates the funds of opposition figures both inside and outside Turkey.
In this article, the site dwells on the story of Hayreddin Barbarossa, the first admiral of the Ottoman navy who is always referred to by Erdogan.
Barbarossa was a major pirate in the Mediterranean together with his brother.
Algeria's pirate
Barbarossa died 473 years ago. Nevertheless, he is celebrated as a main contributor to the founding of the Ottoman Empire and helping this empire impose its control on the Mediterranean.
He was born in 1478 in Lesbos Island where his father settled down.
He took to piracy in the Mediterranean together with his brother. They used to work to disrupt the maritime movement by attacking ships in the Western Mediterranean.
In 1516, Barbarossa and his brother attacked Algiers and controlled it. This was when the Ottomans wooed them with money in order to gain presence in North Africa.
The Ottomans then appointed Barbarossa as the naval chief in the Western Mediterranean and his brother as the ruler of Algiers.
Chief of staff's post
The Ottoman ruler Selim I sent 2,000 troops to Algeria. In 1522, the Ottomans invaded Rhodes Island and appointed Barbarossa as it governor. In 1531, Barbarossa occupied Tunisia. This was why Sultan Selim I appointed him as the admiral of the Ottoman navy, the first one to occupy this position. He also worked as the chief of staff of the Ottoman navy.
Barbarossa played a great role in deciding the naval policies of the Ottoman Empire. He founded a major naval arsenal for the building of ships.
He mastered a number of Mediterranean languages, including Arabic, Spanish, Italian and French. He spent most of his life in the seas. He constructed a mosque and two schools in Istanbul.
Barbarossa died on July 4, 1546 at the age of 76. He was buried near one of the two schools he founded.
