Koca Sinan Pasha

Koca Sinan Pasha was an Albanian-born Ottoman statesman who served five times as Grand Vizier. In 1574, Sultan Selim II appointed Sinan Pasha commander-in-chief of an immense amphibious expedition to permanently wrest Tunis from Spanish-Habsburg occupation.

Arriving in the Gulf of Tunis in July 1574 with 250 war galleys and 40,000 troops alongside admiral Kilij Ali Pasha, Sinan conducted a masterclass siege of the formidable Spanish bastion of La Goulette (Halq al-Wad) and the Kasbah of Tunis. On September 13, 1574, both fortresses fell, ending Spanish presence and establishing Tunisia as an Ottoman regency (Eyalet of Tunis).