American diplomacy will now refer to Turkey by the name "
Türkiye
", and no longer "
Turkey
", which also means "
turkey
" in English, the State Department announced on Thursday, acceding to a request from the Turkish government.
Washington thus wrote “
Türkiye
” Thursday in a press release announcing joint economic sanctions with Ankara against a network accused of having helped the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) to finance itself.
"
The Turkish Embassy has requested that we use this spelling in our communications
," said US Foreign Affairs spokesman Ned Price, adding that it would be used in official and bilateral diplomatic contexts.
But the use of the word “
Turkey
” is not prohibited, according to Ned Price, because it is “
better understood by the American public
”.
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“Turkey” also means “turkey”
The Pentagon has already been using the name “
Türkiye
” since August and the United Nations since June.
In a letter addressed to the UN, the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs had in fact asked that his country no longer be called "
Turkey
" in French and especially "
Turkey
" in English, which also means "
turkey
" and could therefore have a negative connotation.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had, from 2021, required the use of "
Türkiye
" in languages that use the Latin script.
"
Some may find this name change silly, but it places Erdogan in the role of protector and safeguard of international respect for the country
", analyzed this summer Mustafa Aksakal, professor of history at Georgetown University. of Washington, quoted by The
New York Times
.