Turkey: Why did Turkey change its English name?
- Tiffany Wertheimer
- BBC News
image source, Getty Images
From Thursday, Turkey in English is called Türkiye instead of Turkey.
The United Nations has approved a formal request by the Turkish government this week to change the name on the international stage.
Other international bodies will also be required to adopt the new English name as part of the rebranding campaign launched by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan late last year.
“Turkey is the best representation and expression of the culture, civilization and values of the Turkish people,” the president said in December.
Why did the name change?
Most Turks actually refer to their country as Turkey.
however, Anglo-Saxon from Turkey in English also I mean Turkey It is widely used.
La emisora estatal TRT se apresuró a hacer la modificación del nombre tan pronto se anunció el año pasado, explicando que, entre las razones del cambio de imagen, estaba la asociación de Turkey con el ave tradicionalmente relacione relacione el a la Navo el Navida Thanksgiving day.
image source, Getty Images
The Blue Mosque in Istanbul is known as Sultan Ahmet Camii in Turkish.
He also cited another definition from the Cambridge English Dictionary as one of the reasons for the change because the word also means “something seriously wrong” or “a stupid or foolish person”.
As part of the rebranding, “made in Turkey” It will appear on all exported products, and a tourism campaign with the slogan “Hello Türkiye” was launched in January.
The decision sparked mixed reactions online.
Government officials support it, but others say it is a distraction as the president prepares for elections next year amid a deepening economic crisis.
It is not unusual for countries to change their names.
In 2020, the Netherlands stopped naming the Netherlands and before that, Macedonia changed its name to North Macedonia due to a geopolitical dispute with Greece. Swaziland became an Eswatini in 2018, to name a few.
image source, Environmental Protection Agency
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promoted the name change campaign.
A common name with a bird
By Onur Erim, BBC Turkish Service
Ü can be misleading to the majority of the international audience who do not have this letter in their alphabet.
For an English speaker, changing the first vowel of Turkey to Ü and adding an E at the end is enough to pronounce the new noun completely.
But why was this necessary?
President Erdogan has been pushing for this change for years, arguing that the country would be better represented by the Turkish name rather than sharing the same English spelling with a bird.
‘Turkey’, the bird, is known as ‘Pavo’ in Spanish, ‘Peru’ in Portuguese, or ‘Indian’ in Turkish.
Many social media users criticize the Turkish government’s move as absurd, while others agree that it was a necessary rebranding.
We have to wait and see if people all over the world will accept Turkish instead of Turkey.
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