Turkey changes name to stop being confused with the bird

President Erdogan of Turkey has decided to change the country’s name in order to avoid mockery for sharing its name with a bird.
“Say Türkiye”, says an advertisement currently being shared on social media to raise awareness of the change of Turkey’s internationally used name. The use of the name in the Turkish language avoids any confusion between the country and the bird.
The Republic of Turkey, “Türkei” in German or “Turquie” in French, emerged in 1923 from the Ottoman Empire. Almost a century later, its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has decided that the country’s international name will be its Turkish-language version: “Türkiye”.
A presidential decree from December 3 2021 states that Türkiye “represents and expresses the culture, civilisation and values of the Turkish nation in the best way”. The Turkish government intends to report the change of its international name to the United Nations in the next few weeks to formalise the decision.
However, some in Turkey warn that the change may lead to problems, as the letter “ü” is not found in the alphabet of many languages.
Although Ankara has not yet discussed the issue with the UN, the Turkish president is optimistic that the issue could be solved by using a simple ‘u’ instead of ‘ü’, i.e. ‘Turkiye’ instead of ‘Türkiye’. Erdogan is also seeking to strengthen the country’s brand in international relations, institutions and trade.
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