The United Nations on Wednesday confirmed that the country name ‘Türkiye’ is replacing ‘Turkey’ after the Turkish government handed in a request that it be referred to as Türkiye.
Following the UN confirmation, it is expected that the new name will be used in all economic activities and international interactions and correspondences.
The nation began the process and urged the UN to make the change after president Recep Tayyip Erdogan decided in December to change the name so that it reattaches itself to the cultural roots etched in Turkish history.
However, according to a report by news agency The Guardian and state-run news agency TRT World, the name change came into place citing that googling the word Turkey offers plethora of meanings and is mostly used to refer to Meleagris – otherwise known as the turkey, a large bird native to North America. It said that on the internet it shows ‘a muddled set of images, articles, and dictionary definitions that conflate the country’.
It also said that if further researched ‘turkey’ also is defined as ‘something that fails badly’ or ‘a stupid or silly person’. The state-run news agency also said that the people of Türkiye prefer calling their nation ‘Türkiye’ as opposed to Turkey.
Erdogan’s push in December to change the name came when he urged ‘Made in Türkiye’ be used in exported products as opposed to ‘Made in Turkey’. Soon after Erdogan’s push, Turkish ministries too started using Türkiye in official documents and correspondences.
“Together with our Directorate of Communications, we have been successful in preparing a good ground for this. We have made it possible for the UN and other international organizations, countries to see this change to using ‘Türkiye’,” Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
The UN spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said that the name change was effective from the moment it received the letter urging the change from the authorities in Türkiye. He also said that such kind of requests are not uncommon.
It is noteworthy that not only Türkiye, but Czech Republic also changed its name to Czechia but its longer name is still used.
Also in international events and competitions, names of nations in the English language are used more compared to the native names nations often use – for example, Germany also known as Deustcheland, in some sports competitions use Germany rather than Deustcheland. It also applies to Spain – which calls itself Espana.
(with inputs from Anadolu Agency, The Guardian and TRT World)
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