By Ben Kerrigan-
Turkey is rebranding and has changed its name to Türkiye to avoid associations with the bird in the native meaning of the name, which means a ‘stupid or silly person’.
In the Cambridge English Dictionary, one definition of ‘turkey’ is “something that fails badly” or “a stupid or silly person”.
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The United Nations has accepted a formal request from the country’s capital city of Ankara and has agreed to now call it Türkiye – pronounced tur-key-YAY.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu wrote to the UN to formally ask for the name change.
He said: “Together with our Directorate of Communications, we have been successful in preparing a good ground for this.
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“We have made it possible for the UN and other international organisations, countries to see this change to using Türkiye.”In response, the UN says it made the change as soon as it received the request this week.
A decision to rebrand the name Turkey was made last year, with president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan saying in December: “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.”
Selim Koru from the Foreign Policy Research Institute said: “The association with the bird genuinely annoys Erdogan and the people around him.”
TRT World claimed that Turks prefer their country to be called Türkiye, in keeping with ‘the country’s aims of determining how others should identify it’.
As part of its rebrand, exported products will now feature words ‘Made in Türkiye’.
The new name was also used in a tourism campaign, with one advert showing people from various different countries saying: “Hello Türkiye.”
The country first called itself in Türkiye 1923 after its declaration of independence.
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