Turkey changes official name to ‘Türkiye’

ISTANBUL: The United Nations has changed the Republic of Turkey’s country name at the organisation from “Turkey” to “Türkiye”, following a request from Ankara.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that a letter had been received from the Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu addressed to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, requesting the use of “Türkiye” instead of “Turkey” for all affairs. The spokesman said the country name change became effective from the moment the letter was received.

The day before, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavasoglu had tweeted a photo of himself signing the letter, addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. “Together with our Directorate of Communications, we have been successful in preparing a good ground for this,” said the letter.

“With the letter I sent to the UN Secretary General today, we are registering our country’s name in foreign languages at the UN as ‘Turkiye,’” he wrote, including an umlaut over the “u”.

He added that the change would bring to an end the process of “increasing the brand value of our country”, an initiative started by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has led the country for almost two decades.

“We have made it possible for the UN and other international organisations, countries to see this change to using ‘Türkiye’,” Cavusoglu told a Turkish news agency.

Turkey began the move to change its internationally recognised official name in English to Türkiye in December after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan released a memorandum and asked the public to use Türkiye to describe the country in every language.

“Türkiye is accepted as an umbrella brand for our country in national and international venues,” Erdogan said at the time. “Türkiye is the best representation and expression of the Turkish people’s culture, civilization and values.”

Erdogan also advised companies to use “made in Türkiye” for their exported goods, and instructed state agencies to use Türkiye in their correspondence.

Ülkemizin marka değerini yükseltmek için Sayın Cumhurbaşkanımız @RTErdogan liderliğinde başlattığımız süreç nihayete eriyor.

BM Genel Sekreteri’ne bugün gönderdiğim mektupla ülkemizin BM nezdinde yabancı dillerdeki adını da “Türkiye” olarak tescil ediyoruz.

Hayırlı olsun! 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/Zd9UIv2eVy

— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) May 31, 2022