Turkey this week formally asked to the United Nations to be called differently from now on. His name would not be “Turkey”, the English version used so far internationally, but “Turkey”, the Turkish name actually used in Turkey. The request is part of a campaign to rebrand, that is, renew the image, that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched in the country in December last year. The United Nations has announced that it has formalized the change when the request arrives, and other international organizations will soon do so.

Erdogan had commented in December on the amendment, saying that “Turkey is the best way to represent and express the culture, civilization and values ​​of the Turkish people.” Among the reasons for the change, there is also the fact that the country no longer wishes to be associated with the turkey (which in English is called “turkey”) and some of the unfamiliar meanings that the Cambridge English Dictionary ascribes to the term, such as “the thing that fails miserably” or A stupid and silly person.

From now on, the labels on products from Turkey will also have the “Made in Turkey” label.

United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric he said to CNN that “it is not up to us to accept or not. Countries are free to choose what name to give them. It does not happen every day but it is not uncommon for countries to do it.” Some precedents for example ‘Netherlands’ (Netherlands) which became “Netherlands” (Netherlands) and Côte d’Ivoire, which replaced the English version “Ivory Coast” with the French version (the official language) “Côte d’Ivoire”.

– Read also: Holland is no longer called Holland

Online, some Turks commented positively on the news, and others criticized it, arguing that it was a ploy by Erdogan to divert attention from the ongoing economic crisis in light of next year’s presidential elections.

TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation) had already introduced the change last year and last January a promotion campaign Tourism with the slogan “Hello Türkiye”. From the video you understand how to pronounce “Turkish” (as you read, with ü as German).