Skanderbeg (Gjergj Kastrioti) was enrolled in the Devşirme system and converted to Islam upon being taken to the Ottoman court as a hostage, likely around 1423, when he would have been circumcised as part of this process. Skanderbeg was sent to the Sultan as a hostage, likely in 1414 and again in 1423. As a hostage, he was raised as a Muslim and trained as a Janissary, which necessitated his circumcision. He was given the name Skander (Alexander) during his time at the Ottoman court. Leaving the Ottomans and returning to his homeland, he officially abandoned the Muslim faith he had observed while serving as an Ottoman official. Skanderbeg renounced Islam and reconverted from Sunni Islam to Roman Catholic Christianity in November 1443, after deserting Sultan Murad II's Ottoman forces at the Battle of Niš. Following this, he recaptured his family's fortress of Krujë and required those who had embraced Islam or were Muslim settlers to convert or face death, cementing his return.

Isn't your other hero the Albanian Mehmed Ali Pasha, who once brought his family to the kingship of Egypt? He came from Kavala.

https://blacksearoamer.livejournal.com/24141.html?