Joined in the Italy line-up for the first time by his brother Sebastiano, Pio Esposito almost marked the occasion with a goal inside 10 minutes, but a smart save from Altay Bayindir sent it out of play.
Unfortunately for the hosts, the resulting corner bobbled towards the near post and was missed completely by Zeki Celik, before rolling to the centre of the box where Alessandro Bastoni fired the opener into the roof of the net.
From there in the first half Italy were almost unplayable.
A sensational one-touch passing move found Michael Kayode, whose shot was saved by Bayindir, only for Davide Frattesi to arrive and bundle it in at the far post.
Having failed to learn from that, Turkey allowed their opponents to do almost the same just five minutes later, with Pio Esposito shifting it on to Kayode, who this time powered low into the net to mark his international debut with a goal.
The rain continued to fall during half-time, making the surface unpredictable and contributing to Turkey pulling one back.
Oguz Aydin was found on the right by a skidding long ball, and he simply squared it across the face of goal for Baris Yilmaz to tap in.
But they enjoyed that momentum for just a few minutes before giving it cheaply away, resulting in Sandro Tonali striking the post with a curling effort and Pio Esposito coolly heading in the rebound.
That was perhaps a bit harsh on the hosts, who started to improve and were denied by the offside flag after Yilmaz found the net.
Turkey’s dominance reached a head in the final minutes, but the crowd in Bursa was ultimately left disappointed as chances for Kerem Akturkoglu and Arda Guler went begging.
Back under the manager who delivered them glory in Euro 2020, the signs are good for Italy, whose first-half performance was worthy of the result.
Turkey’s first-ever Nations League A campaign isn’t going to plan, and Vincenzo Montella won’t be pleased that they’ve lost four of their last five competitive matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Davide Frattesi (Italy)