Bonus Blog Post for Sunday, June 5, 2022, or: You Say ‘Turkey,’ I say ‘Turkiye’

It’s late afternoon here in Fish Hawk, Florida, on June 5, 2022. It’s hot, humid, and mostly sunny. I guess those scattered showers in today’s forecast were spotty; it was cloudy and gloomy most of the day, but judging from the light that passes through the closed blinds in my room, it’s definitely not raining, at least not in this part of the Fish Hawk planned community.

I’m still tired, though. So tired in fact that I have not done anything except write this morning’s blog post and muck about on Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. I have not even played one mission or battle scenario in any of my games – not even my usual ones of Cold Waters or Crusade in Europe. Clearly, staying up all night and only getting a couple hours of sleep – especially when sex is not involved – is not conducive to a productive or restful Sunday.

I did learn, through my perusal of various news sites, that the country formerly known as “Turkey” has a new official name: Republic of Türkiye, or just Turkiye, which is pronounced “turkey-yay.”

Per Turkey wants to be called Türkiye in rebranding move (BBC News, June 2):

Turkey will be known as Türkiye at the United Nations from now on, 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 is the best representation and expression of the Turkish people’s culture, civilization, and values,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in December.

The UN says it made the change as soon as it received the request this week.

Most Turks already know their country as Türkiye. However the anglicised form Turkey is widely used, even within the country.

Why the change of anglicized names now? After all, “Turkey” – as a geographical name – has been in the English language for hundreds of years. Why the sudden urge to go from “Turkey” to “Turkiye”?

Well, again referring to the BBC:

State broadcaster TRT was quick to make the change as soon as it was announced last year, explaining that among the reasons for the image rebrand was the association with the bird traditionally associated with Christmas, New Year or Thanksgiving.

It also pointed out the Cambridge English Dictionary’s definition of one of the meanings of the word as “something that fails badly” or “a stupid or silly person”.

Oh, okay, I can understand that.

When asked for their views on the issue, the turkeys politely declined to comment.

Source: Turkey wants to be called Türkiye in rebranding move, by Tiffany Wertheimer, BBC News (June 2, 2022)