Turkey sends letter to UN to change country’s foreign name to ‘Türkiye’

Turkey has sent a letter to the United Nations to change the name of the country’s foreign name, “Turkey,” and register it as “Türkiye” from now on, a top Turkish diplomat has announced.

Uploading photos of himself signing a document, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said, “With this letter I will send to the U.N. Secretary-General, we register our country’s name as ‘Türkiye,’” on Jan. 1.

“The process, which started with the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to upgrade the brand value of our country is ending,” the minister said and announced the registration application.

“Good luck with it,” he noted.

The initiative to use the country’s foreign name as “Türkiye” at national and international platforms started in December 2021 with a decree signed by Erdoğan.

A month later, in January, the Presidential Communications Directorate lit the blue touch paper of a campaign named “Hello Türkiye.”

Many international tourists were seen in the promotional video, saying “Hello Türkiye” in their own pronunciations.

The directorate published the video with a slogan, saying, “Not ‘Turkey,’ it is ‘Türkiye.’”

Within the scope of the campaign, a “Turkish Brand Office,” which will work with public institutions and the private sector to promote “Türkiye’s” name, will be formed.

Fahrettin Altun, the head of the directorate, on Jan. 13, asked the public to support the campaign. “If we all act together, we can strengthen the trademark of Türkiye worldwide,” Altun noted.