Is the Italian
Ambassador Turkish?
Carlo Marsili, the Italian
ambassador to Turkey, feels
himself at home in Turkey,
not only because of his Turkish family, but also from the similarities and
closeness between the two countries.
He says he is not neutral
when it comes to Turkey,
which he means in the most positive way
possible. Ambassador Marsili says that he has devoted himself
to the developments of these relations. Since the past and present Italian
governments supported Turkeys
EU membership and other fields, Ambassador Marsili says he can openly and
frankly talk about these issues -- one of the reasons he does not speak about
himself. I insist on those kinds of issues rather than my personal life,
which is not that interesting, I think, he says and laughs. He still
answers the personal questions with the same openness and frankness.
Sometimes I realize that when I am
talking about Turkey
with people, even with my colleagues, I say, we, admits
Ambassador Marsili. This we refers to Turkey. We
laugh quite a bit during the interview because of the ambassadors jokes
about himself, though he says he does not like to talk
about himself much.
I feel at home in this country, he
says. Ambassador Marsili feels that he is a part of this country, not only because
he is married to a Turk and serving his second time as a diplomat in Turkey, but also because he strongly believes in
the Mediterranean side of the EU, which to him means Turkey.
Of course I am Italian ambassador and I
am here for Italys
interests in this country. But I feel that Turkey is also my country in some
ways. I realize it is a strange position for an ambassador: I am not neutral
with Turkey.
Not being neutral does not mean that I dont perceive the problems and
shortcomings in Turkeys
economy, society and politics. But anyhow, I have served in many countries in
the world, and this is the first time I feel [myself] to be part of this
country, which is nice, he says.
Ambassador Marsili thinks the position of the
Italian government helps him feel and act in this way because it strongly
supports EU membership and is eager to develop relations with Turkey in every
field. If the Italian government were not so supportive of Turkey, I would
ask the Italian government to put me somewhere else. I could not stay in Turkey with a
different policy -- this is for sure. I am lucky because the Italian government
supports Turkey,
Ambassador Marsili says.
Ambassador and Ms. Marsili met in Ankara at the embassy when he was a diplomat in Ankara, serving from 1979
to 1981. They have been together since then, and they do not have any children.
On the interview day, Ms. Marsili was in Rome.
I knew that when you marry a Turkish
girl, you marry the country, he pointed out. But he says that as they were
traveling and serving in different countries, until he was appointed to Turkey as an
ambassador he had not experienced anything like being an eniste. He says the word eniste
in Turkish, which is used to denote the husband of any female relative such as
sisters and aunts. My experience as an eniste is
very positive, he says.
Being married to a Turk also helps him
realize his principle in diplomacy: To get in touch with as many people as
possible. He says: I like diplomacy very much because it gives you
the possibility of doing a lot of things and seeing the realization of most of
them and getting in touch with a lot of people. I always try to be in touch
with as many people as possible, not only with diplomats. Diplomats are very
often in touch with the elites of society, which is important, of course. But
it is important to be in touch with ordinary people, too. You can only perceive
the country if you are in touch with normal people. This is what I always try
to do. It was not easy all the time, but because of my Turkish family around
me, I am able to do that.
Giving perfect speeches in Turkish
It is a difficult relationship,
Ambassador Marsili says when questioned about his relationship with Turkish. He
smiles again and explains the reason why: My wife graduated from Ankara Universitys
Italian philology [department]. We talked in Italian from the beginning. When I
came here as an ambassador, I realized that learning Turkish is not only an
opportunity, but also a necessity. Sometimes my wife asks people around us to
speak with me in Turkish. I participated in dinners with everybody talking in Turkish
and I tried to follow what is going on, he says, and we laugh.
Ambassador Marsili says that since he was
appointed to Turkey,
there have been lots of things to do, such as many reciprocal high-level
visits, so he has not had enough time to learn Turkish, but he intends to do
so. Nowadays, he has a private teacher and his wife is also helping him start
to learn Turkish in a serious manner. This will be the last big effort of
my life, he says. His previous linguistic endeavor was learning German
while serving there.
But he proudly adds that he has given
speeches in Turkish before, and tells me about a good experience he had with
this: One-and-a-half years ago, I went to Kayseri for the inauguration of an urban
railway system, which was Italian. Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign
Minister Abdullah G|l and some other Cabinet members
were there. I was supposed to make a speech. I did it in Turkish. I read it. I
pronounced it in a very correct way because I read it at least 15 times with my
wife. I made a very good speech at that time. One of Erdogans
bodyguards told my interpreter, I did not know that the Italian ambassador
was Turkish.
But giving speeches in Turkish, according to
him, can cause him to get lost. After the speech, he was approached by Erdogan and G|l, who spoke to him
in Turkish. After a while, I was lost, he says, but adds, I hope in a few months I will overcome this.
60 percent dolce vita
I mention Italian stereotypes: they like
singing, eating and opera. I ask him to what extent he fits these stereotypes.
He thinks for a while and says: Sixty percent. In Italy,
everybody tries to live a sweet life, dolce vita. It is an Italian aspiration.
In Italy,
the quality of life is very high. I like this kind of Italian attitude to life.
Listening to opera? It is true. I like it. Eating? Yes, although I am not
extraordinarily devoted to it. In fact, I try to keep myself a little bit
fit, he says.
He says he used to cook when they were in Italy and he
likes cooking. I am not a good cook, but a reasonable one. But here it is
absolutely impossible for me to cook because the kitchen is too big. I am lost.
I dont know where the things are, he says.
Singing? I am
awful. I remember in primary school every week there was a lesson in singing.
The teacher was blind. We were around him. He was playing piano and asking
everybody to sing together. But he went around, touched me and eliminated me
from the chorus, he says and laughs.
Being an Italian and not able to sing very
well can also create problems in diplomatic life. It was little bit
problematic when I was an ambassador to Indonesia. They have this habit --
which is nice -- where at the dinner table, at a certain moment, somebody says,
Now we sing, and they ask somebody in the
room to sing. Since I was the Italian ambassador, I was spotted immediately. I
tried to avoid it. If it was forced, I would request my wife to sing.
But Ambassador Marsili points out that there
are certain shortcomings that he doesnt like
about Italians. They normally are not on time. You fix an appointment,
lets say 10 oclock, and very few people show up. But I am extremely
precise, like an Anatolian, not like someone in Istanbul, he says and laughs.
He thinks that there are many similarities
between Turks and Italians, though not in every way. It is simple for us
to get in touch with Turks much more easily than some other people inside Europe. For some reasons -- whether geographic,
historical and so on -- they were more distant from us, he points out.
But there is one staple of Italian culture
that he misses in Turkey:
Italian bars. They are on every corner, serving coffee, other beverages and
food, mostly sandwiches, and customers eat and drink while standing.
When I need coffee or something to drink
in Turkey,
I have to sit down and wait to be served. This was the first clash of
civilization with my wife. In Italy,
she wanted to sit down for a coffee. Why do we have to? It is nice to stand.
She has changed her mind. I am sure that these kinds of coffee shops would be
extremely successful. I suggested it to some people around me. Everybody says,
Yes, yes; good idea, but they say this is
against the Turkish mentality. Turks prefer to sit down and talk with friends
while having coffee. I dont know -- I think this kind of thing could be
successful in Turkey.
Ambassador Marsili points out a difference
between Italians and Turks in perception: Turks see most things in black and
white while Italians see many shades of grey. In Italy, we have
a tendency of being not always, not in every field, but in general, a bit
superficial sometimes. I think Turks are more serious in the sense that there
are few things that are grey to them. Of course there are exceptions. It is
perhaps too much, and it is better to keep certain number of things grey. On
the contrary, we tend to have a lot of grey, with few things black or white.
This sometimes helps, but it is sometimes too much. It can be advantage, but at
certain point becomes a negative, he says.
A job he is devoted to
He says that he tries to create conditions
for real, special and strategic relations between Italy
and Turkey
in every field: political, economic and cultural. I am absolutely
convinced that the construction of Europe has forgotten the Mediterranean side,
which is strategically important, and the Mediterranean side is Turkey, he says, but admits that there has
been a decrease in the enthusiasm in Europe and in Turkey for Turkish EU membership.
He says when there is a political engagement
and it is not possible to change it -- despite some speeches by some EU leaders
expressing opposition to full Turkish membership -- when Turkey
completes its reform process it must be a full member, nothing less. I
repeat, full membership, because we are absolutely against partial membership. Turkey deserves
to be a full member, Ambassador Marsili says.
He points out that Italy
has invested much in emerging markets such as China,
which is good, but according to him, some entrepreneurs realize that their China could be Turkey for the simple reason that
it is much closer. Turkey
can really become in some way the center of Italian investment, he says
and explains that for this reason he has reinforced the commercial section of
the embassy since coming to office and he is very happy about the job they are
doing.
I am very proud of the results. When I
arrived in Turkey,
we had bilateral trade of less than $10 billion. Now, we have more than $50
billion. At the moment, around 500 Italian enterprises are based in Turkey, from big to small ones, and not only in
traditional places but also in different parts of Anatolia,
he says.
He adds that in every political visit, he
organizes meetings between Turkish and Italian businessmen and that opportunities are always there. There have been
high-level visits between the two countries recently and new ones are on the
way such as visits by Italys
energy, education, defense and foreign ministers.
Ambassador Marsili says that even when he was
away from Turkey
he followed the countrys developments. In 1999, when Abdullah Vcalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
terrorist organization, went to Italy
and relations between two countries got very sour, he was in Japan as an ambassador, but he learned of Turkeys
reactions through his wife. He was not in a position to advise anything to his
government about the relations at that time, but he always wanted to be posted
here as an ambassador. I was lucky enough. When I came back from Indonesia, I
was nominated as the director general of personnel of the Foreign Ministry,
which is the ideal place for constructing your future post, so I did this.
He hopes to stay here as ambassador because he believes that two countries have
all the opportunities of becoming real European partners. This is the job
I am devoted to, he says.
Perhaps Erdogans
bodyguard is right about his Turkishness.
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