Turkey will be known as Türkiye at the United Nations (UN) from now on after it agreed to a formal request from Ankara (capital of Türkiye).

Several international bodies will be asked to make the name change as part of a rebranding campaign launched by the Turkish President late last year (2021). “Türkiye is the best representation and expression of the Turkish people’s culture, civilization, and values” President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, disclosed in December 2021.

The UN noted that it made the changes as soon as it received the request this week. Most Turks already know their country as Türkiye. However, the anglicised form Turkey is widely used, even within the country.

According to Türkiye’s state broadcaster, it was quick to make the change as soon as it was announced last year (2021), explaining that among the reasons for the image rebrand was the association with the bird, traditionally associated with Christmas, New Year or Thanksgiving. It also pointed out the Cambridge English Dictionary’s definition of one of the meanings of the word as “something that fails badly” or “a stupid or silly person”.

The way Forward

As part of the re-branding, “Made in Türkiye” will feature on all exported products, and in January 2022, a tourism campaign was launched with the catch-phrase “Hello Türkiye”.

Reports about the new development suggested that the move has met mixed reaction online. However, government officials said they support it, with others saying it is an ineffective distraction as the President gears up for elections next year, amid an economic crisis.

Name Change is Not Uncommon

It is not uncommon for countries to change their names.

In 2020, The Netherlands dropped Holland in a rebranding move. And before that, Macedonia changed its name to North Macedonia due to a political dispute with Greece, and Swaziland became Eswatini in 2018. Further back in history, Iran used to be called Persia, Siam is now Thailand, and Rhodesia was changed to Zimbabwe.

According to an international correspondent, the Ü may be tricky for most of the international audience who don’t have that letter in their alphabet. However, it is alleged that it is the same as the German Ü, like the U in ‘pure’ or ‘cue’. So, for an English speaker, changing the first vowel of Turkey to a ‘Ü’ and adding an ‘E’ to the end (as in ‘pet’) is enough to pronounce the new name perfectly.

Report is suggesting that President Erdogan has pushed for the move for years, arguing that the country would be better represented with the Turkish name instead of sharing the same word with a bird. Turkey the bird is called by a different name in many languages, such as “peru” in Portuguese, while in Turkish it is “hindi”.