United Nations says request from Ankara has been accepted with immediate effect
\nAnkara
\nTurkey\u2019s government has sent a letter to the United Nations formally requesting that it be referred to as T\u00fcrkiye, the state-run news agency has reported.
\nThe move is seen as part of a push by Ankara to rebrand the country and dissociate it from the bird of the same name and negative connotations associated with it.
\nAnadolu Agency said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson to UN secretary general Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, confirmed receipt of the letter from Mevl\u00fct \u00c7avu\u015fo\u011flu, the Turkish foreign minister. The agency quoted Dujarric as saying that the name change had become effective \u201cfrom the moment\u201d the letter was received. Dujarric told the Washington Post: \u201cIt is not uncommon for us to receive such requests.\u201d
\nPresident Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s government has been pressing for the internationally recognised name Turkey to be changed to T\u00fcrkiye (tur-key-YAY) as it is spelled and pronounced in Turkish. The country called itself T\u00fcrkiye in 1923 after its declaration of independence.
\nIn December 2021, Erdo\u011fan ordered the use of T\u00fcrkiye to better represent Turkish culture and values, including demanding that \u201cMade in T\u00fcrkiye\u201d be used instead of \u201cMade in Turkey\u201d on exported products. Turkish ministries also began using T\u00fcrkiye in official documents.
\nThe government this year released a promotional video as part of its attempts to change its name in English. The video shows tourists from across the world saying \u201cHello T\u00fcrkiye\u201d at famous destinations.
\nThe Turkish presidency\u2019s directorate of communications said it launched the campaign \u201cto promote more effectively the use of \u2018T\u00fcrkiye\u2019 as the country\u2019s national and international name on international platforms\u201d.
\nIt was not clear whether the name, with a letter that doesn\u2019t exist in the English alphabet, will catch on widely abroad. In 2016, the Czech Republic officially registered its short-form name, Czechia, and while some international institutions use it, many still refer to the country by its longer name.
\nTurkey\u2019s English-language state broadcaster TRT World has switched to using T\u00fcrkiye although the word Turkey slips in, used by journalists still trying to get used to the change.
\nTRT World explained the decision in an article earlier this year, saying Googling \u201cTurkey\u201d brings up a \u201ca muddled set of images, articles, and dictionary definitions that conflate the country with Meleagris \u2013 otherwise known as the turkey, a large bird native to North America \u2013 which is famous for being served on Christmas menus or Thanksgiving dinners.\u201d
\nThe network continued: \u201cFlip through the Cambridge Dictionary and \u2018turkey\u2019 is defined as \u2018something that fails badly\u2019 or \u2018a stupid or silly person\u2019.\u201d
\nTRT World argued that Turks prefer their country to be called T\u00fcrkiye, in \u201ckeeping with the country\u2019s aims of determining how others should identify it\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
United Nations says request from Ankara has been accepted with immediate effect Ankara Turkey\u2019s government has sent a letter to the United Nations formally requesting that it be referred to as T\u00fcrkiye, the state-run news agency has reported. The move is seen as part of a push by Ankara to rebrand the country and dissociate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264387,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8090,1385,8089,84,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-264362","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-name","9":"tag-turkey","10":"tag-turkiye","11":"tag-un","12":"tag-united-nations"},"yoast_head":"\n