Since its foundation in 1886, the National Association for the Relief of Italian Missionaries (Anmi) has gone beyond the limits of its statute to provide assistance to Italian communities settled in the Middle East and North Africa, building schools, clinics, and hospitals, managed by religious personnel made available to it by Catholic orders. It has also pursued with particular commitment the dissemination of the Italian language and culture. An important part of its activity was concentrated in the countries of the Ottoman Empire until 1918 and then in Kemalist Turkey.
