Italian-Turkish Relations: Potential and Limits of a ‘Strategic Partnership’

Italy and Turkey have built over the decades a partnership based on economic cooperation, shared international concerns, and a common vision of Turkey’s future as a member of the European Union. Italian perceptions of Turkey, however, are negatively affected by antiMuslim sentiments among the Italian public. Negative views about Turkey’s post-Kemalist establishment have become more widespread also among Italian elites in the context of the debate on Turkey’s ‘drift from the West’. The “Arab Spring” of 2011, which has forced Ankara to appreciate the common challenges it faces in the MENA region together with the rest of the West, has partly assuaged concerns of a “de-alignment”, confirming that Turkey has specific ambitions but also broadly shares Western strategic assessments. While Rome remains committed to Turkey’s EU aspirations, the fading of the membership perspective since 2005 has led Italian governments to support the accession process mainly as way to further strengthen bilateral ties. The relationship, finally, is adjusting to new power realities. Turkey’s ascent at a time of economic and political difficulties in Italy and in the EU, raises questions of influence in areas of common

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  • For a comprehensive analysis of Italian political stakeholders on the ‘Turkey question’ and their views on Turkey-EU relations; See, Emiliano Alessandri and Sebastiano Sali, ‘‘Turkey-EU Relations: A View from Italy’’, in Sait Akşit, Özgehan Şenyuva and Çiğdem Üstun (eds.), Turkey Watch: EU Member States’ Perceptions on Turkey’s Accession to the EU, Ankara, CES-METU, 2010.
  • On the determinants and drivers of Italian foreign policy, see, Riccardo Alcaro, ‘‘Catching the Change of the Tide. Italy’s Security Policy under Post-Cold War Elites’’, The International Spectator, Vol. 45, No. 1 (March 2010), pp. 131-145.
  • For an early presentation of this argument see former Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema, ‘‘L’Italia alleato critico della Turchia in Europa’’, Il Sole 24 Ore, 13 June 2007.
  • Giorgio Napolitano, ‘‘Eredità del passato e sfide del futuro: Turchia e Europa nei nuovi equilibri del mondo globale’’, at http://www.quirinale.it/elementi/Continua.aspx?tipo=Discorso&key=1726 [last visited 25 March 2011].
  • For a history of ENI and its rise as a multinational corporation, see Nico Perrone, Enrico Mattei, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2001; See also, Claudio Corduas, Impresa e Cultura. L’Utopia dell’ENI, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2006.
  • For a discussion see Emiliano Alessandri and Ebru Canan, “Mamma li Turchi : Just an Old Italian Saying”, in Nathalie Tocci (ed.), Talking Turkey in Europe: Towards a Differentiated Communication Strategy, Quaderni Istituto Affari Internazionali, English Series No. 13, December 2008, pp. 11-41.
  • For a sample of this ideological line, see Marcello Pera and Joseph Ratzinger, Senza Radici, Milano, Mondadori, 2004.
  • See the articles and slogans in the ‘‘No-to-Turkey’’ page of the website of the ‘‘Movimento Giovani Padani’’ (the youth organization within the Northern League), at http://www.giovanipadani.leganord. org/noturchia.asp [last visited 15 March 2011].
  • See the section on the European Union and EU Enlargement of the Northern League’s official website, at http://www.leganord.org/elezioni/2008/lega/ue/allargamento_ue.pdf; See also the following website presenting Northern League’s propaganda against Turkey’s threat of ‘‘Islamization of Europe’’, at http:// lacasadelleliberta.splinder.com/post/20255575/SOLO+LA+LEGA+NORD+CONTRO+L%27ISL [last visited 15 March 2011].
  • “Gheddafi a Roma: E’ subito show”, La Stampa, 29 August 2010.
  • Marcello Pera, ‘‘Democrazia è libertà? In difesa dell’Occidente’’, Fondazione Magna Carta Blue Books Series, August 2005; See also, the lecture by Bernard Lewis, later published in a book edited by the Fondazione Magna Carta, ‘‘Il Medio Oriente un anno dopo la guerra in Iraq’’, Fondazione Magna Carta Lettura Annuale, March 2004.
  • See, for instance, Mario Rimini, ‘“Freedom Flotilla’, l’Europa non deve darla vinta alla Turchia’’, L’Occidentale, 1 June 2010, at http://www.loccidentale.it/articolo/ dopo+i+morti+di+gaza,+l%27e uropa+non +deve+darla+vinta+alla+turchia.0091640 [last visited 25 June 2011]; Enzo Bettiza, ‘‘La Turchia più lontana dall’Europa’’, La Stampa, 2 June 2010; Carlo Panella, ‘‘Nostalgia ottomana. La Turchia non sogna più l’Europa’’, Libero, 6 June 2010; Luigi de Biase, ‘‘Supremazia Turca’’, Il Foglio, 11 June 2010.
  • See, ‘Turchia. Ucciso a coltellate a Iskenderun monsignore Padovese, vicario dell’Anatolia’, at http:// www.ilmattino.it/articolo.php?id=104799&sez=MONDO [last visited 28 June 2011]. Mons. Padovese was killed by his own driver, a Turkish Muslim recently converted to Catholicism. Padovese had been a strong advocate of interreligious dialogue.
  • See, in particular, the articles of Giuseppe Mancini in the FareFuturo web magazine. For an example, Giuseppe Mancini, ‘‘C’è un Kissinger in Turchia. E cerca il dialogo (con tutti)’’, Ffweb Magazine, at http://www.ffwebmagazine.it/ffw/page.asp?VisImg=S&Art=2606&Cat=1&I=immagini/Foto%20 D-F/davutoglu_int.jpg&IdTipo=0&TitoloBlocco=Esteri&Codi_Cate_Arti=30 [last visited 12 July 2011].
  • On the divisions within Catholic opinion after the assassination of Mons. Padovese, see, Andrea Bevilacqua, “Vescovo ucciso in Turchia. Si divide la stampa Cattolica”, ItaliaOggi, 5 June 2010; On Italian ‘‘Christian public opinion’’ and its views on Turkey, see, Alessandri and Canan, “Mamma li Turchi Just an Old Italian Saying”.
  • See, Interview by the author with Rocco Buttiglione, 12 June 2008.
  • On Joseph Ratzinger’s early views on Turkey, see, ‘‘Cardinal Ratzinger: Identifier la Turquie à l’Europe serait une erreur’’, Le Figaro, 13 April 2004.
  • The Vatican stresses that it cannot and it will not have an official position on Turkey-EU relations as this would mean interfering in EU affairs. The Holy See has, however, often intervened or even sought a prominent role in the classic controversial debate on Europe’s ‘roots’ and borders.
  • See, for instance, interview with Mons. Rino Fisichella, ‘‘Ricostruire un’Europa cristiana’’, Tempi, 12 May 2010.
  • See, Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (‘Istituto Nazionale per il Commercio Estero’), Nota Congiunturale sulla Turchia, at http://www.ice.it/paesi/europa/turchia/upload/181/NOTA_CONGIUNTURALE_ APRILE_2011.pdf [last visited 16 August 2011]. Following data are also drawn from same source.
  • “Italia Turchia: Montezemolo, per imprese Ankara gia’ in UE”, at www.aziende-oggi.it/ archives/00041157.html. [last visited 19 February 2011].
  • Interview by the author with Giuseppe Scognamiglio, Head of Unicredit Group External Relations Department, 7 April 2008.
  • CIRCAP, European Elites Survey 2009, at http://www.gips.unisi.it/circap/documentation-data [last visited 6 April 2011].
  • See, Italian Institute for Foreign Trade, Nota Congiunturale sulla Turchia.
  • This and following data are drawn from “Women and Multiculturalism in Turkey and in Italy”, a 2009 unpublished quantitative survey conducted by Milan-based TNS Italia Srl.
  • See, opinion poll by Le Figaro, April 2009, at http://hetq.am/en/society/7364/ [last visited 12 June 2011]; See also, the data on Turkey in the GMF-Compagnia di San Paolo Transatlantic Trends Survey Series, 2002-2011, at http://trends.gmfus.org/ [last visited 25 August 2011].
  • “Women and Multiculturalism in Turkey and in Italy”.
  • For an overview of the main elements of the strategic partnership between Italy and Turkey as understood by the respective foreign ministers, see Ahmet Davutoğlu and Franco Frattini, “La ‘rivoluzione silenziosa’ turca nel cammino verso l’Europa”, Corriere della Sera, 18 November 2009.
  • See, Hajrudin Somun, “Turkey’s Diplomatic Engagement in the Balkans: Bosnia as a Focus”, Today’s Zaman, 27 July 2009.
  • See, Lucia Marta, “The UNIFIL II Mission in Lebanon: Italy’s Contribution”, Real Instituto Elcano Papers, at http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/rielcano_eng/Content?WCM_GLOBAL_ CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/defense+security/ari125-2009 [last visited 12 August 2011].
  • See “Turkey-Lebanon Relations in the Light of Hariri’s Visit to Ankara”, Today’s Zaman,13 January 2010; Turkey’s mediation between Syria and Israel was abrputly ended as a consequence of the ‘Gaza offensive’ launched by Israel in December 2008. The Turkish initiative dated back to 2004 in the context of Syrian President Bashar al-Asad’s visit to Turkey. Between May 2008 and December 2008 four rounds of official indirect talks via Turkish shuttle diplomacy took place.
  • The Turkish government initially opposed the candidacy of former Danish Prime Minister Anders Rasmussen on the grounds that he mishandled the so-called ‘Cartoon crisis’ in 2006 and allowed the PKK-associated Roj TV to broadcast from Denmark. On Berlusconi’s mediation, see, ‘‘One the phone with Erdoğan Berlusconi ignores NATO protocol’’, Today’s Zaman, 6 April 2009.
  • See, Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, “Energia: Accordo Italia – Turchia – Russia su oleodotto”, at www.governo.it/Notizie/Ministeri/dettaglio.asp?d+51876 [last visited 28 December 2011].
  • Massimo De Leonardis (ed.), Il Mediterraneo nella politica estera italiana del secondo dopoguerra, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2003.
  • For a balanced discussion of Turkey’s ‘activism’ in the Middle East, see, International Crisis Group, “Turkey and the Middle East: Ambitions and Constraints”, Europe Report 203, 7 April 2010; for a recent study on Turkey’s views of the Mediterranean, see Nathalie Tocci, “Turkey: Reluctant Mediterranean Power- An Introductory Note”, in Meliha Benli Altunışık, Kemal Kirişci and Nathalie Tocci (eds.), Turkey: Reluctant Mediterranean Power, The German Marshall Fund of the United States Mediterranean Papers Series 2011.
  • Italy is trying to use Aktau, Kazakhstan’s main port city, as a gateway for Italian products and investments to Central Asia. See, Alfredo Sessa, “Aktau, testa di ponte kazaka per l’Italia in Asia centrale”, Il Sole24ore, 27 April 2010.
  • See, Darren L. Logan, “Thoughts on Iraqi Kurdistan: Present Realities, Future Hope”, Iran and the Caucasus, Vol.13, No.1 (2009), pp. 161-186.
  • For a discussion see Roberto Aliboni, “The Mediterranean and the Middle East. Narrowing Gaps in Transatlantic Perspetive”, The German Marshall Fund of the United States Mediterranean Paper Series, May 2010.
  • Daniel Baltrusaitis, “When Coercion Fails: US-Turkish Burden-Sharing in Operation Iraqi Freedom”, Paper presented at the 2007 edition of the International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Meeting, Chicago, 28 February-3 March 2007.
  • Davutoğlu and Frattini, “La ‘rivoluzione silenziosa’ turca nel cammino verso l’Europa”.
  • “Iran: Frattini, No Opzione Militare”, at http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/mondo/2010/06/04/ visualizza_new.html_1818969328.html [last visited 22 March 2011].
  • “Clinton Attacks Turkey-Brazil Deal with Iran”, Financial Times, 18 May 2010; See also Bernard Zand, ‘‘The Anatolian Tiger. How the West is Losing Turkey’’, Spiegel Online, at http://www.spiegel. de/international/world/0,1518,700626,00.html [last visited 12 April 2011]. According to the Turkey- Brazil-Iran deal, Teheran has committed to shipping low-enriched uranium to Turkey. In return, higher-enriched uranium will be sent back to Iran. The deal is meant to control Iran’s production of nuclear energy for civilian purpose only.
  • “Erdoğan Sends Letters to 26 Countries on Iran Nuclear Deal”, The Journal of Turkish Weekly, at http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/102989/erdogan-sends-letters-to-26-countries-on-iran-nuclear- deal.html [last visited 28 November 2011].
  • See, “Chronology of Italian Foreign Policy”, Istituto Affari Internazionali, at http://www.iai.it/sections/ ricerca/polestera/cronologia/cronologia.asp [last visited 29 August 2011].
  • Abraham H. Foxman, “The Tragic Fraying of the Turkey-Israel Relationship”, Hürriyet Daily News, 23 June 2010.
  • See, Ofra Bengio, “Turkey’s Strategic U-Turn, Israel’s Tactical Mistakes”, Telaviv Notes, in Bruce Maddy- Weitzman (ed.), at http://www.aftau.org/site/DocServer/TANotes_June_8_2010.pdf?docID=11042 [last visited 12 June 2011].
  • Suat Kınıklıoğlu, “This Israeli Government Has Gone Too Far”, International Herald Tribune, 2 June 2010.
  • ‘‘‘Berlusconi alla vigilia del viaggio in Israele: ‘In Europa siamo il vostro migliore alleato”, at http:// www.adnkronos.com/IGN/News/Esteri/Berlusconi-a-Israele-Ho-cambiato-la-politica-estera-e-ora-in- Europa-siamo-il-vostro-miglior-alleato_4256893551.html [last visited 12 February 2011].
  • “Flotilla crisis” refers to the crisis erupted between Israel and Turkey as a consequence of the former’s attack of self-described ‘pacifists’ who aimed to breach the Gaza embargo on an aid cargo carrying Turkish flag. In the attack, nine Turks and one Turkish-American citizen were killed. As it took place in international waters, Ankara condemned the attack as illegal and amounting to an act of war. For details, see, Joshua Mitnick, “Flotilla Assault Spurs Crisis”, Wall Street Journal, 1 June 2010.
  • Emiliano Alessandri, “Turkey and the West Address the Arab Spring”, German Marshall Fund of the United States On Turkey Series, 8 June 2011, at http://www.gmfus.org/galleries/ct_publication_ attachments/Alessandri_ArabSpring_Jun11.pdf [last visited 8 June 2011].
PERCEPTIONS: Journal of International Affairs-Cover
  • ISSN: 1300-8641
  • Yayın Aralığı: Yılda 2 Sayı
  • Başlangıç: 1996
  • Yayıncı: T.C Dışişleri Bakanlığı