Turkey has changed its name. Turks don’t like to be mistaken for a turkey. All this because the translation of the name of the Euro-Asian country into English is “Turkey”, that is, “turkey”.
As of today, Friday, and with the approval of the United Nations, the country is renamed Türkiye (tur-kay-yay), as it is written and pronounced in the Turkish language. But the name was already used internally since 1923, after the declaration of independence.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu sent a letter on Thursday to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asking for the country to be formally called Türkiye, the state news agency confirmed. Anadolu. The United Nations accepted it and the new name takes effect internationally as of this Friday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government mandated the use of Türkiye to better represent Turkish culture and values, including requiring that “Made in Türkiye” be used instead of “Made in Turkey” on exported products. Turkish ministries immediately began using the new name in official documents.
In early 2022, the Turkish government also released a promotional video to try to change its English name. The video shows tourists from all over the world saying “Hello, Türkiye” at famous destinations.
The communications directorate of the Turkish presidency said it had launched a campaign to more effectively promote the use of Türkiye as the country’s national and global name on international platforms.
