Turkey Has Officially Renamed Itself As A Country

The country decided to rebrand itself due to the negative connotations its original name often has.

In a letter addressed to the UN's Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu asked that the country be known officially as 'Türkiye' instead of 'Turkey'.

Cavusoglu wrote: "Together with our Directorate of Communications, we have been successful in preparing a good ground for this."

The Anadolu Agency said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for Guterres, confirmed he had received the letter on Wednesday (1 June).

Quoting Dujarric, the agency said the name change - which is pronounced tur-key-YAY - had become effective 'from the moment' the letter was received.

Cavusoglu told Anadolu Agency: "We have made it possible for the UN and other international organisations, countries to see this change to using 'Türkiye'."

Last December, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that he believed 'Türkiye' better represented the nation.

He said at the time: "Türkiye is accepted as an umbrella brand for our country in national and international venues.

"Türkiye is the best representation and expression of the Turkish people’s culture, civilisation and values."

Erdogan also advised companies to use 'made in Türkiye' on exported goods, and ordered state bodies to use the term in their correspondence.

The word is not new, though, the country called itself 'Türkiye' in 1923 following its declaration of independence.

Earlier this year, the Turkish government released a promotional video as part of its bid to see the name changed in English. The video shows tourists from across the world saying 'Hello Türkiye' at famous destinations.

The Turkish presidency’s directorate of communications said it launched the campaign 'to promote more effectively the use of ‘Türkiye’ as the country’s national and international name on international platforms'.

However, it is not yet clear whether the name will catch on widely abroad.

In 2016, the Czech Republic officially registered its short-form name, Czechia, however, though some international institutions use this name, many people still refer to the country as the Czech Republic.

Turkey’s English-language state broadcaster TRT World has already switched to 'Türkiye', though the word 'Turkey' sometimes slips in as journalists get used to the change.

TRT World argued that Turks prefer their country to be called 'Türkiye', in keeping with 'the country’s aims of determining how others should identify it'.

The broadcaster also said the change stops the country's name being confused 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'.