Aruj
Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis was the son of the famous Turkish privateer and Ottoman admiral Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis, who was known as Curtogoli in Europe, particularly in Italy, France and Spain. The name "Kurtoğlu" or "Kurdoğlu" means "Son of Kurt (Wolf)" in Turkish, a patronymic epithet of Muslihiddin, derived from the name of Muslihiddin's father, Kurt Bey, a Turkish seaman from Anatolia who went to northwestern Africa for privateering together with the other famous Turkish corsairs of that period such as the Barbarossa brothers, Oruç Reis and Hızır Reis. Hızır Reis became a close friend of Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin, who named his son after him. Oruç Reis, Hızır Reis, Kemal Reis, Piri Reis and Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis often sailed together in the Mediterranean Sea.