Turkey will be known as Türkiye at the United Nations from now on, after it agreed to a formal request from Ankara.

Several international bodies will be asked to make the name change 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.

The UN says it made the change as soon as it received the request this week.

Most Turks already know their country as Türkiye. However the anglicised form Turkey is widely used, even within the country.

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.

It also pointed out the Cambridge English Dictionary's definition of one of the meanings of the word 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".

The move has been met with a mixed reaction online. While government officials support it, others say it is an ineffective distraction as the president gears up for elections next year, amid an economic crisis.

It is not uncommon for countries to change their names.

In 2020, The Netherlands dropped Holland in a rebranding move. And before that, Macedonia changed its name to North Macedonia due to a political dispute with Greece, and Swaziland became Eswatini in 2018.

Further back in history, Iran used to be called Persia, Siam is now Thailand, and Rhodesia was changed to Zimbabwe.

The Ü may be tricky for most of the international audience who don't have that letter in their alphabet but it's the same as the German Ü, like the U in pure or cue. So for an English-speaker, changing the first vowel of Turkey to a Ü and adding an E to the end (as in pet) is enough to pronounce the new name perfectly.

But why was this necessary? President Erdogan was pushing for this move for years, arguing that the country would be better represented with the Turkish name instead of sharing the same word with a bird.

Turkey the bird is called by a different name in many languages, such as "peru" in Portuguese, while in Turkish it is "hindi".

Many social media users refer to this fact to criticise the Turkish government's move as absurd, while others agree that it was a necessary rebranding.

We have to wait and see if people around the world will accept Türkiye instead of Turkey, Turquie or Twrci.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61671913

tolotolo:-)

Turkiye has been their name since na

adonis89:
Turkiye has been their name since na

But the English pronunciation always made it sound Turkey.

Well the pronunciation won't change

Wales suppose follow

I hope they change the Name of their capital from Ankara to Aso-ebi

Potato potatoe

U dey mind dem

Unzerious:
I hope they change the Name of their capital from Ankara to Aso-ebi

Unzerious:
I hope they change the Name of their capital from Ankara to Aso-ebi

My Ghanian friends were hoping it would be Kente.

Turkey is know as Türkei here
Turkey is Puten (bird) in German

We know, chief.

Waiting for Hungary to say they bellifull

I won't forget the bebe I lashed recently, her kitchen be like turkey

Türkiye is the official name of Republic of Turkey.

Ok. It is noted.

What of una citizens wey die as bird nko

Dat 1 no concern buhari

pavoda:
Nigeria should request to formally change its name to United African Republic (UAR)

What is un¡ted about dem abi unity na for name?

Turkey only flew from the ground and landed on the anthill. It is still on the ground despite changing name to Turkiye on the anthill.

We know its a Christian nation that was forcefully converted. According to history.

If one religion cease the whole world, convert everybody to theirs, then wat else? Will there be peace afterward?

Religion is the greatest killer of humanity

Tolotolo

Epstein:
Wales suppose follow

wails not whale lmao

Unzerious:
I hope they change the Name of their capital from Ankara to Aso-ebi

this nigga got jokes

Epstein:
Wales suppose follow

Whales(plural noun for Whale) is not the same thing as Wales.

Na bird for chop una still be

Turkey to Turkiye

Wetin be the difference between Bulus and Bala