UN agrees to change Turkey’s official name to ‘Türkiye’
Tags: International News
Turkey will henceforth be officially known as 'Turkeys' at the United Nations, after agreeing to Ankara's formal request.
This is a part of a rebranding campaign launched by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2021.
Why does Turkey want to change its name?
Turkish President Erdoan argued that instead of matching the name of a bird (Turkey), it better represented the country if it was called Turkiye.
According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, the meaning of turkey is fool or loser.
Erdoan said that Turkiye best represents the culture, civilization and values of the people of this country and it also best expresses them.
The country's government was not happy with the Google search results for the word 'Turkey'.
Some of these results included the large bird that is served for Thanksgiving and Christmas meals in North America.
Countries that changed its name in the past
The Netherlands was changed from Holland in 2020.
Macedonia changed its name to North Macedonia due to a political dispute with Greece.
Swaziland, a landlocked country in Southern Africa changed to Eswatini in 2018.
Iran used to be called Persia, Siam is now called Thailand, and Rhodesia was changed to Zimbabwe.
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