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It’s finally official. The country you grew up calling “Turkey” has formally changed its name to “Türkiye” (pronounced “tur-key-yay”), which reflects how the country’s name is spelled and pronounced in Turkish.
The country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has been pressing for the name change since late last year. The next step was for Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to send a letter to the United Nations formally requesting that the country be referred to as “Türkiye.”
Finally, on Thursday, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, confirmed Guterres received the letter. Dujarric also said the name change had taken effect immediately when the letter was received, according to the Associated Press.
Making The Change
Modern Türkiye was founded in 1923 from the remains of the defeated Ottoman Empire, according to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The country, which is slightly larger than the state of Texas, is bordered by eight countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. Türkiye’s other borders are the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.
Last December, President Erdogan ordered the use of the new name to preserve the values that come from the deep-rooted history of the Turkish nation, according to TRT World, Türkiye’s English-language state broadcaster.
“The phrase Türkiye represents and expresses the culture, civilization and values of the Turkish nation in the best way,” Erdogan’s directive explained, according to TRT World. “In this context, the phrase ‘Made in Türkiye’ is now being used instead of ‘Made in Turkey’ on our export products, which are the pride of our country in international trade.”
Another Reason For The Name Change
Erdogan’s directive aside, TRT World explained in another article that Googling “Turkey” brings up “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,” the Associated Press reports.
The network also explained that “Flip through the Cambridge Dictionary and ‘turkey’ is defined as ‘something that fails badly’ or ‘a stupid or silly person.'”
Indeed, “The main reason why Turkey is changing its name is to eliminate the association with the bird,” Sinan Ulgen, chairman of Istanbul-based think-tank EDAM, said, according to CNN. “But also, the term is used in colloquial language to denote failure.”
Mixed Reactions So Far
So far, it seems reactions to the name change have been mixed.
On the one hand, Türkiye’s government released a promotional video earlier this year to help with “brand management.” In that video, tourists from around the world are seen saying “Hello Türkiye” while standing in some of the country’s most famous locations.
Then again, while international organizations such as the United Nations may now be obligated to use the country’s new name, no one knows how quickly the name, which contains a letter that isn’t even in the English alphabet, will catch on.
“It won’t happen overnight for the broader public,” Ulgen said, according to CNN. “It will likely take many years for the broader international public to switch from Turkey to Türkiye.”
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