 |
| Turkish President Erdogan announced that Turkey will be changing its name. Credit: Turkish Presidency |
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan released a statement earlier this month announcing that he will change Turkey’s name to “Turkiye.”
“The word ‘Turkiye’ represents and expresses the culture, civilization and values of the Turkish nation in the best way,” read the statement.
“Turkiye” is the name used for the country in Turkish, and the country now wants to carry that name over to international recognition:
“In the context of strengthening the ‘Turkiye’ brand, in all types of activities and correspondence, especially in official relations with other countries and international institutions and organizations, the term ‘Turkiye’ will be used instead of terms such as ‘Turkey’, ‘Turkei’, ‘Turquie’ and so on.”
“Turkiye is accepted as an umbrella brand for our country in national and international venues,” Erdogan maintained. “Turkiye is the best representation and expression of the Turkish people’s culture, civilization and values.”
But neither Erdogan nor any of his representatives have indicated when exactly the name change will officially be instated: “The exact timing for the name change is still under consideration by the government,” a senior government official said to the Middle East Eye. “But the process is ongoing.”