According to the state-run news outlet, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has publicly requested that his country be referred to as “Türkiye” in a letter to the United Nations. The decision is considered part of Ankara’s effort to rebrand the country and distance it from the bird, turkey, and its negative connotations.
According to the Anadolu Agency, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, confirmed receipt of the letter late Wednesday. The name change was effective “from the minute” the letter was received, according to Dujarric, according to the agency.
The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pushed for the internationally recognized name of Turkey to be changed to “Türkiye” (tur-key-YAY), as it is spelled and spoken in Turkish. After declaring independence in 1923, the country changed its name to “Türkiye.”
Erdogan ordered in December that “Türkiye” be used instead of “Made in Turkey” on exported products to better represent Turkish culture and values. In official papers, Turkish ministries have begun to use the term “Türkiye.”
As part of its efforts to change its English name earlier this year, the administration also published a promotional video. Tourists from all over the world may be seen saying “Hello Türkiye” at well-known tourist attractions in the film.
The campaign was launched “to promote more effectively the usage of ‘Türkiye’ as the country’s national and international name on international platforms,” according to the Turkish presidency’s Directorate of Communications.
It was unclear whether the name, which contains a letter that does not exist in the English alphabet, would be widely adopted outside of the United States. While several international institutions use Czechia, the Czech Republic’s short-form name was formally registered in 2016, and many people still refer to the country by its full name.
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TRT World, Turkey’s English-language public broadcaster, has moved to the name “Türkiye,” however some correspondents are still using “Turkey.”
In an article published earlier this year, TRT World explained the decision, stating that Googling “Turkey” yields “a muddled set of images, articles, and dictionary definitions that conflate the country with Meleagris – otherwise known as the turkey, a large bird native to North America – which is famous for being served on Christmas menus or Thanksgiving dinners.”
“Turkey” is defined as “anything that fails miserably” or “a dumb or silly person” in the Cambridge Dictionary, the network continued.
According to TRT World, Turks favour the name “Türkiye” because it “accomplishes the country’s goals of establishing how others should recognise it.”
