The Asian country of Turkey has officially changed its name to Türkiye.
Türkiye has now been accepted by the United Nations after it agreed to a formal request from Ankara.
Several international bodies will be asked to make the name change as part of a rebranding campaign launched by the Turkish president late last year.
Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “the new name is the best representation and expression of the Turkish people’s culture, civilization, and values.”
Most Turks already know their country as Türkiye. However, the anglicised form of Turkey is widely used, even within the country.
As part of the re-branding, “Made in Türkiye” will feature on all exported products, and in January a tourism campaign was launched with the catch-phrase “Hello Türkiye.”
Türkiye is not the first country to change its name. In 2020, The Netherlands dropped Holland in a rebranding move. And before that, Macedonia changed its name to North Macedonia due to a political dispute with Greece, and Swaziland became Eswatini in 2018.
Further back in history, Iran used to be called Persia, Siam is now Thailand, and Rhodesia was changed to Zimbabwe.
