Turkey became Türkiye. In a statement released Friday, January 6, 2023, the US State Department announced that it would stop writing the word “Turkey” to refer to Turkey. The spelling of this name, which also means “turkey” in English, will be changed to “Türkiye”. This change had been called for by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in January 2022.
Just a year ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked the UN to change the spelling of the word “Turkey”, which also means “turkey” in English, to “Türkiye”. The organization granted this request in June 2022.
Just a year ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked the UN to change the spelling of the word “Turkey”, which also means “turkey” in English, to “Türkiye”. The organization granted this request in June 2022.
On Friday January 6, 2023, the US State Department followed suit by officially declaring that it would stop using the word “Turkey” to refer to the country, reports The Guardian.
“Turkey” is not prohibited
In January 2022, the Turkish president said in a statement that the word “Türkiye” would better translate “our culture, our people and our values”. However, if he recorded this spelling change in communications between the United States and Turkey, State Department spokesman Ned Price specified that the word “Turkey”, “more widely understood by the public American”, could continue to be used in order to “promote a better understanding” of the latter.
In practice, this spelling change had already been made in 2022 by the United States. Last August, a statement from the Pentagon had thus mentioned the “Türkiye”. This spelling had also been used by the State Department on social media.
A negative connotation
According to the British media, the English word “Turkey” to designate Turkey was not unrelated to poultry. At the time, British colonists thought that this native bird in North America came from the East, hence the use of this word well and truly associated with the bird. The latter then took on a more negative connotation, the “turkey” also designating a person devoid of intelligence.
The United States is not the only English-speaking country to have acceded to Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s request. The embassies of Australia, Canada, India and New Zealand in Turkey also use the spelling “Türkiye”. Conversely, the British, Irish and South African embassies have still not made the change.
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