Turkey will now be called Turkiye- Why has the country changed its name? List of 12 Countries that have changed names

Turkey New Name: Turkey will now be officially known as Turkiye at the United Nations after it agreed to officially recognise the name change on June 1, 2022 following a request from the Turkish government. Turkey had begun its campaign to rebrand itself in December 2021.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said in December, "Türkiye is the best representation and expression of the Turkish people's culture, civilization, and values."

The United Nations received the request for the name change this week and it was formally processed immediately. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric informed that a letter had been received from the Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on June 1. The letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres requested the use of “Türkiye” instead of “Turkey” for all affairs.

The UN spokesperson said that Turkey's name change became effective from the moment the letter was received. The letter was submitted to the UN and other international organisations. The Turkish Foreign Minister had tweeted saying, "the process we started under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in order to increase our country's brand value is to be finalized."

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Why has Turkey changed its name?

In the letter addressed to UN Secretary General, Turkish FM had written that in a branding strategy, "the Government of the Republic of Turkiye, henceforth will start using 'Türkiye' to replace the words such as 'Turkey,' 'Turkei' and 'Turquie' that have been used in the past to refer to the 'Republic of Turkiye." The citizens of the country already recognise their country as Turkiye. Turkey is the anglicised form, which is also widely used within the country. 

One of the key reasons for the image rebrand is the association of Turkey with the Turkey bird traditionally associated with Christmas, New Year or Thanksgiving. 

The Cambridge English Dictionary's definition of Turkey is also reportedly one of the reasons as one of the meanings of the word Turkey has been given as "something that fails badly" or "a stupid or silly person".

 Turkey New Name Pronunciation- Tur-key-YAY

When was Turkiye first proposed?

Turkey had began the move to rebrand itself internationally as Türkiye in December 2021 following the release of an official memorandum by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in which he had asked the public to use Türkiye to describe the country in every language.

Erdogan had said at that time "Türkiye is accepted as an umbrella brand for our country in national and international venues." He also advised Turkish companies to use “made in Türkiye” for their exported goods and also instructed state agencies to use Türkiye in their correspondence.

The Turkish government also released a promotional video this year as part of its rebranding campain, showing tourists from across the world saying 'Hello Turkiye'.

#HelloTürkiye 🇹🇷 https://t.co/k9Y6wOP2i1 pic.twitter.com/MbDYPdb4GW

— Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) June 1, 2022

Here is a list of countries that have changed their names -

1. The Netherlands- The dutch country officially changed its name from Holland to The Netherlands in January 2020 as a marketing move. The names Holland and Netherlands were interchangeable before that. 

2. Czech Republic- Czech Republic officially changed its name to Czechia in 2016 in a marketing move, as it is a easier name to attach to products.

3. North Macedonia - The Republic of Macedonia officially became the Republic of North Macedonia in 2019 in a political move, as Macedonia was also an ancient Greek kingdom and the naming dispute had led to instability in the region. 

4. Eswatini- King Mswati III renamed Swaziland to Eswatini in April 2018 to break free from the country’s colonial past. Eswatini is the country's pre-colonial name and it means "land of the Swazis" in their language.

5. Cabo Verde- Cape Verde officially requested to change its name to Cabo Verde in 2013.

6. Sri Lanka- Sri Lanka officially changed its name from Ceylon in 1972 when it became independent from the British rule. The country officially removed its old collonial name from government use in 2011. 

7. Iran-The Iranian government requested countries to call Persia as Iran in 1935. 

8. Thailand- Thailand was known as Siam earlier. The king who ruled the country in 1939 changed its name after it became a constitutional monarchy. 

9. Cambodia- Cambodia has changed its name several times, as it was earlier known as the Kingdom of Cambodia and then as Khmer Republic till 1975 and then it was referred to as Democratic Kampuchea from 1975 to 1979. It then became state of Cambodia from 1989-1993 and finally was renamed as Kingdom of Cambodia in 1993. 

10. Myanmar- The ruling military junta changed the name of Burma into Myanmar in 1989. 

11. Ireland- The Irish Free State changed its name to Ireland in 1937 to remove all ties with the United Kingdom. 

12. Zimbabwe- Zimbabwe's colonial name was Rhodesia. The country achieved international recognition as Republic of Zimbabwe in April 1980 after its independence and was renamed as Zimbabwe. 

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