MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

No more Turkey – it is now “Türkiye”

It is still unclear whether the name, with a letter that does not exist in the English alphabet, will become widely popular abroad.

The country is known as “Turkey” has conveyed to the United Nations its decision to change its name to “Türkiye.” In other words, the idea is that the local-language version of the country's name is used worldwide, instead of translations.

The Recep Tayyip Erdoğan government also seeks to position the country as a brand within the tourism market.
In addition to the UN, other international bodies will be asked to have all countries adopt the new name as part of a rebranding campaign launched late last year.

“Türkiye is the best representation and expression of the culture, civilization, and values of the Turkish people,” Erdogan had said in December.

A key reason behind this decision was that in English, “turkey” is a bird traditionally served as food for Christmas, New Year's Day, or Thanksgiving in the United States and some European countries.

In the Cambridge English Dictionary, it is also defined as something that fails badly or a stupid or foolish person. Hence, the “Made in Türkiye” brand will be a clear disambiguation. For those familiar with the Turkish language, the announcement means nothing new: the country called itself “Türkiye” in its declaration of independence in 1923.

The tourism campaign launched in January already has its own slogan: “Hello Türkiye.” The Turkish presidency's Communications Directorate said it launched the campaign “to more effectively promote the use of 'Türkiye' as the country's national and international name on international platforms.” However, it is unclear whether the name, with a letter that does not exist in the English alphabet, will become widely popular abroad.

In 2016, the Czech Republic officially registered its shortened name, Czechia. The Netherlands then removed all uses of “Holland” and Macedonia became North Macedonia, following its dispute with Greece. In Africa, Swaziland changed its name to Eswatini.