 | |
 Italy |  Turkey |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Embassy of Italy, Ankara | Embassy of Turkey, Rome |
Relations between theItalian Republic andRepublic of Türkiye date back centuries in the form of various predecessor states. Italy has an embassy inAnkara and consulates-general inIstanbul and a consulate inİzmir. Turkey has an embassy inRome and a consulate-general inMilan. Both countries are members ofNATO and theUnion for the Mediterranean and have active diplomatic relations. Italy is anEUmember and Turkey is anEUcandidate.
Prior to theUnification of Italy, several Italian states, most notably theRepublic of Venice, fought wars against the Ottoman Empire in conflicts such as theOttoman–Venetian wars (1396–1718) and others.
The Ottoman Empire attempted to invade Italy in 1480. TheOttoman invasion of Otranto occurred between 1480 and 1481 at the Italian city ofOtranto in Apulia,southern Italy. Forces of theOttoman Empire invaded and laid siege to the city and itscitadel. After the refusal to surrender, the city was taken and about 12,000 inhabitant (all the male population) were killed and the others were enslaved: moreover, more than 800 inhabitants were beheaded after the city had been captured.[1] TheMartyrs of Otranto are still celebrated in Italy. A year later the Ottoman garrison surrendered the city following a siege by Christian forces and the intervention of Papal forces led by the GenoesePaolo Fregoso.
The Ottomans also briefly held Otranto once more after conquering it in 1537.[2][3] Ottoman troops operated in Italy and surrounding islands as part ofFrance's war to subdue the region.
TheOttoman Empire begun its first diplomatic mission to Italy in 1856, shortly before the establishment of theKingdom of Italy, by sending Ambassador Rüstem Pasha.[4] Since then, Turkey has had a constant presence in Italy throughout both their embassy inRome and their consulates inMilan andNaples.[5]
Starting from the late 19th century, Italy had a territorial claim overOttoman Libya. This claim dated back to theOttoman Empire's defeat byRussia during thewar of 1877–1878 and subsequent discussions after theCongress of Berlin in 1878, in whichFrance and theUnited Kingdom had agreed to theFrench occupation of Tunisia andBritish control over Cyprus respectively, which were both parts of the declining Ottoman Empire. When Italian diplomats hinted about possible opposition by their government, the French replied thatTripoli would have been a counterpart for Italy, which made a secret agreement with the British government in February 1887 via a diplomatic exchange of notes.[6] The agreement stipulated that Italy would support British control in Egypt, and that Britain would likewise support Italian influence in Libya.[7]
In 1902, a diplomatic crisis between Italy and the Ottoman Empire took place. The crisis began due to the Ottomans failing to prevent attacks by Turkish Arabs on Italiansambuks. When the Ottoman Empire refused to take precautions to prevent these attacks after repeated Italian threats, Italian warships bombarded PortMidi from 31 October onwards. On 10 November, the Ottoman Empire capitulated and agreed to take measures to curb piracy as well as pay an indemnity, ending the crisis.[8] Also in 1902, Italy and France had signed asecret treaty which accorded freedom of intervention inTripolitania andMorocco.[9]
From 1911 to 1912, Italy and the Ottoman Empirefought a war over the Turkish provinces of Tripolitana and Cyrenaica, with the former emerging as the victor.[10] During the conflict, Italian forces also occupied theDodecanese islands in theAegean Sea. Italy agreed to return the Dodecanese to the Ottoman Empire in theTreaty of Ouchy[11] in 1912. However, the vagueness of the text, combined with subsequent adverse events unfavourable to the Ottoman Empire (the outbreak of theBalkan Wars andWorld War I), allowed a provisional Italian administration of the islands, and Turkey eventually renounced all claims on these islands in Article 15 of the 1923Treaty of Lausanne.[12]
Though both states were initially neutral during World War I, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in November 1914 and Italy joined the Entente in May 1915; Italy officially declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 21 August 1915.[13] Both states committed troops to theMacedonian front.
During theTurkish War of Independence (1919–1923), Italy occupied Constantinople and a part of southwestern Anatolia but never fought the Turkish Army directly. During its occupation Italian troops protected Turkish civilians, who were living in the areas occupied by the Italian army, from Greek troops and accepted Turkish refugees who had to flee from the regions invaded by the Greek army.[14] In July 1921 Italy began to withdraw its troops from southwesternAnatolia.
TheConvention between Italy and Turkey, signed inAnkara on January 4, 1932, by theItalian Plenipotentiary, AmbassadorPompeo Aloisi, and theTurkish foreign ministerTevfik Rüştü Aras, settled a dispute that had arisen in the aftermath of theTreaty of Lausanne of 1923, about the sovereignty over a number of small islets and thedelimitation of theterritorial waters between the coast ofAnatolia and the island ofKastellórizo, which was an Italian possession since 1921. Through the convention, the islets situated inside the bay of the harbour of Kastellorizo, along with the islands ofRho andStrongili further off, were assigned to Italy, while all other islets in the surrounding area were assigned to Turkey.[15]
TheRefah tragedy was amaritime disaster that took place duringWorld War II, in June 1941, when the cargo steamerRefah of neutralTurkey, carrying Turkish military personnel fromMersin in Turkey toPort Said,Egypt, was sunk in easternMediterranean waters by a torpedo fired from an unidentifiedsubmarine. Of the 200 passengers and crew aboard, only 32 survived. A report published by the Italian Navy gives coordinates where the Italian submarineOndina attacked vessels. The site ofRefah's sinking matches that information.[16] No country claimed responsibility for the attack on the Turkish ship. On 18 June 1941, Nazi Germany and Turkey signed theGerman–Turkish Treaty of Friendship.
Italy, a founding member ofNATO, supported Turkey's accession to the organisation. In July 1951, an Italian representative stated: "The Italian Government is of the opinion that [...] there is no doubt that the bastion represented by Asia Minor (Turkey) has the same value for the South Mediterranean sector of NATO as the Scandinavian bastion has for the Northern sector. The loss of the former bastion would drive Atlantic defense back to the Central Mediterranean [...] [and] the defense of the continent would become extremely difficult."[17]
In the 1990s, the diplomatic relations were very tense as Italy refused to extraditeAbdullah Öcalan to Turkey, alleging that it was contrary to Italian Law that someone would be extradited into a country in which he would expect the death penalty.[18] Turkey, who has displayed a lot of diplomatic pressure for the extradition, opposed such verdict. The Defense minister of TurkeyIsmet Sezgin mentioned that Turkey would review the candidates for an order for attack helicopters worth of 3.5 Billion dollars, for which before the rejection of the extradition the main candidate was the ItalianFinmeccanica.[18]Mesut Yilmaz, the Turkish prime minister at the time also threatened that Italy is on track to earn Turkey's "eternal hostility".[18]
Italy's presence in Turkey now consists of an embassy inAnkara, a General Consulate inİstanbul, and a consulate inİzmir, together with honorary consulates inAntalya,Bursa,Gaziantep,İskenderun, andNevşehir, and a Consular Correspondent inEskişehir.[19]Turkey's presence in Italy now consists of an embassy inRome, and a General Consulate inMilano.Relations worsened after Italian Foreign MinisterLuigi Di Maio condemned the2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, declaring that the offensive against Kurdish forces in Syria is "unacceptable" and calling for an immediate end to the fighting.[20] Italy joined an arms embargo against Turkey, despite previously being Turkey's primary EU weapons supplier.[21][22]
Following a diplomatic incident dubbed asSofagate in April 2021,Mario Draghi's remarks describingRecep Tayyip Erdoğan as a "dictator" were heavily criticized by the Turkish Foreign Ministry.[23] Erdogan condemned Draghi remark. As a result, relations deteriorated.[citation needed]
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Italian Prime MinisterGiorgia Meloni met in Rome for the Fourth Turkey-Italy Intergovernmental Summit, signing 11 agreements in areas such as trade, defense, space, and culture. The leaders emphasized strengthening economic ties, setting a new trade volume target of$40 billion. They discussed defense industry cooperation, potential energy projects, and cultural collaborations, including co-hosting the2032 UEFA European Football Championship. Additionally,Baykar andLeonardo signed an agreement for aerospace cooperation.[24]
Istanbul is home to one of theItalian Cultural Institutes opened throughout the world by theItalian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[25] The Institute, among other cultural activities, offersItalian language courses, also offered by a number of Turkish universities, such asAnkara University andIstanbul University.[26]
İzmir and Ankara are hosts to, respectively, the Italian Culture Center "Carlo Goldoni"[27] and the Italian Friendship Association "Casa Italia".[26] Both of these associations engage in the organisation of events promotingItalian culture and of courses teaching the Italian language.
A number of Italian schools are present in Turkey, with the great majority of them being located in Istanbul. Italian schools in Turkey include kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools.[26]
It is estimated that there are 30,000 to 40,000Turks residing in Italy.[citation needed]
| Embassy of Turkey, Rome | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Rome |
| Address | Via Palestro, 28 |
| Coordinates | 41°54′23″N12°30′09″E / 41.9064°N 12.5025°E /41.9064; 12.5025 |
| Ambassador | Ömer Gücük |
| Website | https://roma-be.mfa.gov.tr/ |
The Embassy of Turkey inRome (Turkish:Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Roma Büyükelçiliği) isTurkey's diplomatic mission toItaly. It is located at Via Palestro, 28,Rome. The current ambassador is Ömer Gücük.[28]
The Turkish Embassy in Italy is a diplomatic mission representing the interests of the Turkish government in Italy.[29]
SeeEmbassy of Italy, Ankara [it].
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