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Turkey To Become ‘Türkiye’? United Nations approve request for name change

New Delhi, IndiaEdited By: Sayan GhoshUpdated: Jun 02, 2022, 11:53 PM IST
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Erdogan also dismissed reports that US officials had informally raised with Turkey the unlikely possibility of sending the S-400 systems to Ukraine amid Russia's invasion, saying 'all they do is cause commotion' in reference to Washington. Photograph:(Reuters)

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UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced that the letter written by Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu addressed to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was received on Wednesday and he made it clear that the change of the name became valid from the moment that the official letter was received.

The process to change Turkey’s name into “Türkiye” started back in December last year after a memorandum from president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and on Thursday, it received the seal of approval from the United Nations. Following the official request from the country, the UN has decided to change the name of Turkey at the organisation. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced that the letter written by Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu addressed to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was received on Wednesday and he made it clear that the change of the name became valid from the moment that the official letter was received.

Earlier, on Tuesday, Cavusoglu said that an official letter requesting a change of name has been sent to the UN and other major bodies around the world. “Together with our Directorate of Communications, we have been successful in preparing a good ground for this,” said the letter according to Associated Press.

The current government has been trying hard for the name Turkey to be changed to “Türkiye” (tur-key-YAY) as it is spelled and pronounced in Turkish. The name actually dates back to 1923 as the country was called “Türkiye” right after its independence before changing it to Turkey.

Currently, according to the new directive, “Made in Türkiye” is being used instead of “Made in Turkey” on exported products and the name change has also taken place on official documents.

Turkey’s English-language state broadcaster TRT World also explained the decision saying that the word “turkey” shows “a muddled set of images, articles, and dictionary definitions that conflate the country with Meleagris – otherwise known as the turkey, a large bird native to North America – which is famous for being served on Christmas menus or Thanksgiving dinners” on Google.