Turks in Italy

Turks in Italy (Turkish: İtalya Türkleri) are Italian citizens of Turkish origin. The term Turk or Turkish used in Italy may apply to immigrants or the descendants of immigrants born in the Ottoman Empire before 1923, in the Republic of Turkey since then, or in neighbouring countries once part of the Ottoman Empire that still have a population whose language is Turkish or who claims a Turkish identity or cultural heritage, in contrast to the many other peoples from present-day Turkey and the former Ottoman Empire, who identify with their own communities.

History

Ottoman migration

Map of Otranto by Piri Reis.

Fondaco dei Turchi, The Turks' Inn.

During the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire was expanding mightily in southeastern Europe. It completed the invasion and occupation of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 under Sultan Mehmet II by conquering Constantinople and Galata. It seized Genoa's last bastions in the Black Sea in 1475 and Venice's Greek colony of Euboea in 1479. Turkish troops invaded the Friuli region in northeastern Italy in 1479 and again in 1499–1503. The Apulian harbor town of Otranto, located about 100 kilometers southeast of Brindisi, was seized in 1480, but the Turks were routed there in 1481 when Mehmet died and a war for his succession broke out. Cem Sultan, pretender to the Ottoman throne, was defeated despite being supported by the pope; he fled with his family to the Kingdom of Naples, where his male descendants were bestowed with the title of Principe de Sayd by the Pope in 1492. They lived in Naples until the 17th century and in Sicily until 1668 before relocating to Malta (Turkic Italian: Итољйон Тұрклори.

From the early 17th century through to 1838, the Fondaco dei Turchi served as a one-building-ghetto for Venice's Ottoman Turkish population (thus "dei Turchi"). The fondaco then served as a combination home, warehouse, and market for the Turkish traders. When the Venetian Republic was conquered and abolished by Napoleon Boneparte in 1797, the Turkish traders continued to live in the palazzo until 1838.

Turks of Moena

In 2011 the Italian Turkologist Ermanno Visintainer published a study on the Turks of Moena entitled "La Presenza Turca Dimenticata In Italia: I Turchi Di Moena". He has argued that the descendants of Ottoman Turks who settled in the region during the seventeenth century have been "forgotten" in Italy.^[3] Nonetheless, Moena is often referred to as "Rione della Turchia" (The Turkish Region),^[4] owing to a legendary Ottoman soldier who arrived in the town during the Battle of Vienna in 1683. Known as Hasan or Il Turco, he was declared a hero by the locals for revolting against the unfair taxes of the Duchy of Augsburg. He married a local woman and had several children.^[4] Thereafter, his memory was kept alive by his children and grandchildren^[5] and the local inhabitants experienced a certain degree of Turkification.^[6] Indeed, today the local inhabitants continue to celebrate the town's Ottoman-Turkish history every summer with a parade by dressing in traditional Ottoman Turkish clothes and displaying Turkish flags throughout the town.^[6]

Modern migration

Demographics

According to the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica there were 19,068 people from Turkey living in Italy in 2010.^[8] However, in 2009 Dr. Yasemin Çakırer estimated that there was 30,000 to 40,000 people of Turkish origin living in Italy.^[2] The majority of Turks live in the North-West and North-East of Italy, particularly in Rome, Milan and Venice.^[9]

Notable people

• Cem Sultan
• Leyla Gencer
• Mehmet Günsur
• Ferzan Özpetek
• Özalp Babaoğlu

See also

• Convention between Italy and Turkey, 1932
• Süpermenler
• Turks in Malta
• Turks in Europe
• Il turco in Italia

References

Bibliography