This week, at the end of May 2022, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres formally requesting that the world body refer to his nation as Türkiye instead of Turkey. The change went into effect immediately.
The name change will be required from several international bodies as part of a rebranding campaign launched by the Turkish president late last year.
“Türkiye is the best representation and expression of the Turkish people’s culture, civilization, and values,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in December.
While the anglicized form, Turkey, is widely used, even within the country, most Turks already know their country as Türkiye.
State broadcaster TRT was quick to make the change as soon as it was announced last year, explaining that among the reasons for the image rebrand was the association with the bird traditionally associated with Christmas, New Year or Thanksgiving.
One issue that was also brought to attention was the Cambridge English Dictionary’s definition of one of the meanings of the word turkey as “something that fails badly” or “a stupid or silly person”.
As part of the re-branding, “Made in Türkiye” will feature on all exported products, and in January a tourism campaign was launched with the catch-phrase “Hello Türkiye”.