(12 June 2018) “Italy looking towards the Ottoman Empire: Recent Studies" is the title of the conference that Michele Bernardini (University of Naples L'Orientale) will hold tomorrow at the Casa d'Italia in Istanbul. Italy has a long tradition of Ottoman studies that dates back to the Renaissance and which has perpetuated to the present day. If in the past these studies coincided with a political and military interest, often describing an enemy, things changed after the First World War, when figures like Ettore Rossi and later Alessio Bombaci and Aldo Gallotta rekindled an interest in a new mentality and a more scientific spirit. In the last twenty years there has been a real rebirth of these studies under new angles that certainly deserve special attention. During the conference numerous ongoing research studies will be mentioned, including those on the history of Ottoman studies in Italy.