Why did Turkey change its name and why is the world hesitant to say 'Turkey'?
About a year ago, at the request of Turkey, the United Nations and other international organizations have started using the name 'Turkey' instead of 'Turkey', but the question is whether Turkey changed its name during the last one year. How well was the effort received in the diplomatic and social arenas?
As part of efforts to strengthen the Turkish brand, in December 2021 President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan announced through a circular that Turkish exports would use the phrase 'Made in Turkey' instead of 'Made in Turkey'.
Immediately after this circular, the Turkish government indicated to use the name 'Turkey' in correspondence with international organizations as well.
International organizations and states responded positively to this demand of Turkey.
We researched how much the name Turkey is used in the outside world today within a year.
1. "Turkey" in the United Nations and NATO
At the request of Turkey, the United Nations announced in June last year that the name of the country would be used instead of Turkey, and this change was implemented immediately.
The then Turkish Foreign Minister announced the news on Twitter on May 31, 2022. Along with this, he wrote that 'in the letter I have sent to the Secretary General of the United Nations today, we are writing the name of our country in foreign languages. In the United Nations as 'Turkey'. Good luck.'
After the success received from the United Nations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey also made the same request to other international alliances and institutions and diplomatic missions.
International organizations such as NATO, the European Union, the World Health Organization, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the World Trade Organization implemented Turkey's request in official communications and correspondence last year, meaning that the country is named Turkey. Write Turkey instead.
In January of the same year, the US State Department announced that it would begin using the name Turkey for diplomatic and official communications.
However, relevant authorities in the US advised the Turkish Foreign Ministry to use the names 'Turkey' and 'Republic of Turkey' wherever necessary and appropriate. It was justified that 'these names are more understandable to American society.'
According to statements published on the website of the British Foreign Office, the United Kingdom used the name Turkey for the first time on June 8, 2022.
However, the British Foreign Office still uses the name Turkey in official correspondence and announcements, for example it uses the name Turkey instead of 'Turkey' in its 'travel advice' notes to its citizens.
When we look at other countries with which Turkey has close relations, for example, announcements on the English website of Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs use both Turkey and Turkey until 2023.
Initially, the Russian Foreign Ministry website used both the names Turkey and Turkey. The Kremlin announcements have seen the name of the country written as 'Turkey' after June 2022.
We requested the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a complete list of countries using the country name in Turkey, but we did not receive a response from the ministry by the time of publication.
2. Most 'Turkey' in foreign press
Although Turkey's efforts have received recognition at international institutions and diplomatic levels, it is seen that the word 'Turkey' still dominates news about Turkey and social media.
When we search for news about Turkey in English on Google's news search engine Google News, we often hear and read the name Turkey. In the English media, Turkish is commonly used in the English pages of the Turkish press and a few international news outlets.
The Financial Times, Guardian, Bloomberg, Economist, Reuters, including the BBC in the UK, still use the name Turkey instead of Turkey.
The Middle East Eye, based in England and reporting on the Middle East and Africa, also publishes articles on Turkey.
The same is true in the American press. CNN, CNBC, Associated Press, Voice of America, etc. all write and speak Turkish.
It is seen that Turkish is also used in the English service of the Russian government agency Interfax.
The English service of China's official news agency Xinhua uses Turkish as well as Turkish in its news.
Turkey's demand was not only for the spelling of English, but also for the spelling of other languages to be changed to Turkish.
3. But where did the name 'Turkey' come from?
Translator and author Al-Nal Erish says that the name Turkey was used even before the Ottoman Empire.
According to him, 'as the earliest known example, the name of Turkey first appears in the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII's writing 'On the Administration of the Empire'. However, here it refers to Turks, mostly Hungarians. However, this name is used for all communities.
It was first used by the Arabs during the time of the Mamluks. We know that Marco Polo also used the word Turkey when he was talking about Anatolia.
He said that it mainly gained its popularity in the country in the 19th century. It took the form of Turkish as a cross between the names 'Turkia' in Latin and Greek and 'Turkia/Turkiye' in Arabic and Persian, and was adopted by nationalists. And became the name of the newly established state.
The English version of the German Bild and French Le Monde newspapers lists the country as Turkey.
Euronews in Paris, France, which also has a Turkish service, writes "Turkey" instead of "Turkey" in its news.
Writer and translator Unsel Erish, who we asked why the name Turkey has not received more attention in the media and everyday language, says that it also has to do with the Turkish letter 'Ü' in the name Turkey.
The suggestion of the name Turkey instead of Turkey appears to be a well-intentioned but insufficient effort in this context. International alternatives to the letter Ü are unfortunately few and far between. In addition to Turkish, it exists in the Hungarian, Estonian, Azerbaijani, Turkmen and Crimean Tatar alphabets.
Read more...
3. What was said in Erdogan's circular?
The first attempt to highlight Turkey's name is a circular published in the official gazette on December 4, 2021, signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In the circular titled 'Using Turkey as a Brand', it is said that 'Turkey best represents and expresses the culture, civilization and values of the Turkish nation. And it has been said that "Made in Turkey" will be written instead of "Made in Turkey" in the export products.
In this context, within the scope of efforts to strengthen the 'Turkey' brand, the phrase 'Turkey' will be used in all official relations, activities and correspondence with other states and international institutions and organizations. . Necessary sensitivity will be shown in this regard.
Following the circular, a letter sent by the Ministry of Commerce, Regional Directorate of Product Safety and Inspection to the Regional Directorate of Customs and Foreign Trade gave a deadline of March 1, 2022 to transition to the use of 'Made in Turkey'.
Turkey is pronounced 'Turkey' in English colloquialism. It is also used in American slang to mean 'idiot'.
Commenting on Turkey's request for a name change, British newspaper The Guardian wrote, "It was said that Erdogan wanted to get rid of the Westernized name that contradicted his Islamist, nationalist populist policies."
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