1520, His conquests were checked at the Siege of Vienna

This year Suleiman the Magnificent was proclaimed Sultan,
                                             [a happy date for the Ottomans in the East
and the beginning of suffering for millions of Christians
                                                      [in Europe, Asia and the MiddleEast.

Suleiman became a prominent monarch of 16th-century Europe,
                     [presiding over the apex of the Ottoman Empire's military power...
Historians describe him as a military genius,
          [like Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte and Dwight Eisenhower.

He personally led the Ottoman armies in conquering Belgrade, Rhodes and most of Hungary
                                            [before his conquests were checked at the Siege of Vienna in 1529.

Under his rule, the Ottoman fleet dominated the seas,
                                                    [a powerful fleet that was essential, literally the military spine.

He also annexed much of the Middle East in his conflict with the Safavids                      
                                                          [and large areas of North Africa as far west as Algeria.

In conclusion, I should also mention that Turkey was involved in the battles of our time,
                                               [perhaps because one of the territories of Suleiman was Syria.
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to be continued

* ''IT COULD BE OTHERWISE in verse''
Texts and Narration: Odysseus Heavilayias - ROTTERDAM //
Language adjustments and text adaptation: Kellene G Safis -CHICAGO//
Digital adaptation and text editing: Cathy Rapakoulia Mataraga - PIRAEUS //
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* Suleiman the Magnificent,  At the helm of an expanding empire, Suleiman personally instituted major legislative changes relating to society, education, taxation and criminal law. 
His reforms, carried out in conjunction with the empire's chief judicial official Ebussuud Efendi, harmonized the relationship between the two forms of Ottoman law; sultanic (Kanun) and religious (Sharia). 
He was a distinguished poet and goldsmith; he also became a great patron of culture, overseeing the "Golden" age of the Ottoman Empire in its artistic, literary and architectural development.

Breaking with Ottoman tradition, Suleiman married Hurrem Sultan, a woman from his harem, a Christian of Rusyn origin who converted to Islam, and who became famous in the West by the name Roxelana, who is said to have red hair due to her name being related to "Rose". 
Their son Selim II succeeded Suleiman following his death in 1566 after 46 years of rule. Suleiman's other potential heirs Mehmed and Mustafa had died, the former from smallpox and the latter had been strangled to death 13 years earlier at the sultan's order. 
His other son Bayezid was executed in 1561 on Suleiman's orders, along with his four sons, after a rebellion. Although scholars no longer believe that the empire declined after his death, the end of Suleiman's reign is still frequently characterized as a watershed in Ottoman history. In the decades after Suleiman, the empire began to experience significant political, institutional, and economic changes, a phenomenon often referred to as the Transformation of the Ottoman Empire.

 ELEGHOS... at history