[Türkiye. Photo Credit to Unsplash]

Last June, Turkey had changed its official country name to Türkiye, meaning “the land of Turks.”

On February 6th, the powerful earthquake in Türkiye and Syria caused a tremendous amount of casualties.

Amid the tragic news, Türkiye’s country name brought confusion to the world.

The country widely and historically known as ‘Turkey’ has recently been changed to ‘Türkiye.’

To be accurate, the country's name has not changed, it is only an adjustment to the official English notation.

However, the name ‘Türkiye’ is not new to the Turkish people.

They have been using this name since the country was established in 1923.

In Turkish or Turkish-language spelling, the country name has always been Türkiye.

It is the same with how South Korea’s official name is ‘Republic of Korea’ in English, while Koreans call it ‘Daehanminguk.’

Türkiye now simply is getting rid of the name ‘Turkey’ in favor of the original spelling,  Türkiye.

They officially requested the name change to the UN and each country’s foreign office.

However, many countries and press offices are not addressing Turkey as ‘Türkiye’ as of yet.

In particular, English-speaking presses are still reporting the country as ‘Turkey.’ Other countries are still maintaining their own language’s pronunciation and spelling of ‘Türkiye’. 

Türkiye is called in several ways in different foreign languages.

For example, it is written and spoken as Турция in Russian, Türkei in German, Turquie in French, Turquía in Spanish, トルコ in Japanese, and 土耳其 in Chinese.

South Korea has responded to the name change relatively quickly compared to other countries.

The National Institute of the Korean Language changed  ‘Turkey’ to ‘Türkiye’ almost immediately after Türkiye’s request.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade made the same decision as well.

On the other hand, most countries are continuing the use of fixed names or notations.

For example, English-speaking countries write Côte d'Ivoire as Ivory Coast, and Myanmar as Burma.

Why did Türkiye change its official name in the first place? 

First, the Türkiye government stated that the word  Turkey’s definition was not suitable or proper for a country’s official name. (Turkey’s definition is ‘a name of one kind of bird’ and ‘a stupid or silly person.’)

Moreover, Türkiye’s president, Recept Tayyip Erdogan, said “Türkiye is the best representation and expression of the Turkish people’s culture, civilization, and values.”

The upcoming presidential election in May is also one of the reasons for the name change. 

Therefore, the name adjustment is also part of the debate among citizens of the nation.

Nonetheless, the Türkiye government is still in the process of rebranding.

All products now have a “Made in Türkiye” mark, instead of “Made in Turkey.”

Türkiye’s broadcasting stations are in the middle of a tourism campaign called “Hello Türkiye.”

Türkiye is not the first country to perform a name change. 

‘Netherlands’ was changed from ‘Holland,’ ‘Macedonia’ from ‘North Macedonia,’ and ‘Swaziland’ from ‘Eswatini.’ ‘Burkina Faso’ was originally ‘Haute Volta’ and ‘Czechia’ was ‘Czech.’

Further back, ‘Iran’ used to be ‘Persia’ and ‘Thailand’ was ‘Siam.’ ‘Zimbabwe’ changed by dropping ‘Rhodesia.’