BoingBoing
Turkey to change official name to Türkiye in hopes of ending
association with hapless yet delicious bird
By Rob Beschizza
Feb. 14, 2022
Türkiye, as it is known in Turkish, plans to use that name
internationally henceforth instead of the English word Turkey. The
connotations with the bird of plate and plight are too much for
president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said the new name "represents and
expresses the culture, civilisation, and values of the Turkish nation
in the best way".
The Turkish government is planning to change its internationally
recognised official name in English to Türkiye by registering it to
the United Nations in coming weeks, two Turkish officials told Middle
East Eye. The government could change the name with a simple
notification to the UN registry but the letter "Ü", which isn't in the
nominal Latin alphabet, could be a problem. Türkiye means Turkey in
Turkish. One senior Turkish official said Ankara hadn't discussed the
"Ü" issue with the UN yet, but the source was hopeful that a solution
could be found. Some observers said one such remedy could be using "U"
instead of "Ü" in the new name.
Phonetically, in English, it becomes "Turkeer" or "Turkeyer"—easier
than Czechia, at least.
