A man holds a Turkish flag as people visit the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in Ankara on May 19, the 103rd anniversary of the start of Turkey’s War of Independence. Burhan Ozbilici/AP Hide caption
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A man holds a Turkish flag as people visit the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in Ankara on May 19, the 103rd anniversary of the start of the Turkish War of Independence.
Burhan Ozbilici/AP
Turkey now has a new name, at least at the United Nations. Following a request from the Turkish government, which has been working on rebranding the country since last winter, the UN has agreed to recognize Turkey as “Türkiye.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu formally called for the changes in a letter to the United Nations and other international organizations this week.
“The process that was started under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to enhance the brand value of our country will be completed,” Cavusoglu said. Tweet on TuesdayAccording to the translation: Balkan Insights.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told the state-run Anadolu news agency on Wednesday that the name change took effect upon receipt of the letter.
The campaign to change the country’s name began in December when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a memorandum calling on other countries to use the name “Turkey” amid soaring inflation and a worsening economic crisis.
According to Al Jazeera, the country has been ordered to label products for export with “Made in Türkiye” and government agencies to use the name on official documents.
“Turkey best represents the culture, civilization and values of the Turkish people,” Erdogan said at the time.
According to the Associated Press, Turkey called itself “Türkiye” (pronounced “Turkey-y-yee”) after declaring independence in 1923. Many Turkish people are already familiar with the name, but the English version is also commonly used in the country.
Turkey launched a “Hello, Turkey” tourism campaign in January, releasing videos of tourists uttering the phrase in different locations around the country. State broadcaster TRT World said the campaign’s goal was to “inform the world and raise awareness about the use of the country’s original name.”
Turkish officials and state media have suggested there are several reasons behind Turkey’s push to be recognised internationally as “Türkiye”, including the need to strengthen Turkish identity and distance itself from certain less-than-favourable organisations (and search results).
TRT World listed two of them in December, noting that the Cambridge Dictionary defines Turkey as “something that blunders terribly” or “a fool”.
It added that typing the word into Google “results in a confusing mix of images, articles and dictionary definitions that confuse the country with the meleagris (also known as turkey), a large bird native to North America famously served on Christmas menus and at Thanksgiving dinners.”
Turkey’s homophone problem may be unique, but name changes in countries are not uncommon.
There are countless historical examples, such as Persia becoming Iran, Siam becoming Thailand, and most recently, in 2020, the Dutch government began changing the country’s name from Holland to the Netherlands.
