Introduction*
During Sultan Mehmed II’s campaign to expand the Ottoman Empire, the Siege of Otranto in 1480 marked an attempt to establish Ottoman influence in Italy, following the fall of the Byzantine Empire several decades earlier. This event left a lasting impression on the Italian populace, encapsulated in the enduring expression “Mamma li Turchi!” (“Oh, mother, the Turks!”), which symbolized both fear and fascination. However, the historical trajectory of Turkish-Italian relations extends far beyond episodic confrontations such as the Siege of Otranto. From the late medieval period onward, the presence of Genoese and Venetian colonies in Constantinople and along the Anatolian and Aegean coasts established the foundations of robust commercial and diplomatic interactions between the Italian maritime republics and the Ottoman Empire. These early forms of interdependence created institutionalized mechanisms of cooperation, particularly in trade, shipbuilding, and diplomatic exchanges.
Although the phrase “Mamma li Turchi!” is often linked to the 1480 Otranto incident, it more accurately reflects a broader Italian cultural memory shaped by centuries of Ottoman naval raids and pirate attacks along the Italian coast.1 The overall trajectory of Turkish-Italian relations demonstrates long-standing patterns of pragmatic engagement, periodically punctuated by geopolitical friction but generally resilient and adaptive to systemic transformations in the Euro-Mediterranean order. Over the centuries, however, the relationship between the Turks and Italians has evolved significantly. Today, these two Mediterranean cultures share common historical, geographical, and cultural heritage, fostering a unique connection rooted in their shared maritime and geopolitical history.
