In 2021, the Republic of Turkey officially began encouraging the use of Türkiye in international contexts, a move solidified by recognition from the United Nations in 2022. While this change might seem sudden to the outside world, the name Türkiye has long been the official term for the country among Turkish citizens and within the Turkish state. In Turkish, Türkiye translates to “land of the Turks” and has been used since the foundation of the Republic in 1923.
The effort to adopt Türkiye globally reflects a desire to align the country’s international identity with its domestic self-designation while distancing it from unrelated associations, such as the English word for the bird “turkey,” and emphasizing its cultural and historical roots. This article delves into the history of the name, its significance, and the motivations behind this rebranding on the global stage.
Origins of the word “Turkey”
The name of the country Turkey has a complex and fascinating history, rooted in centuries of cultural, linguistic, and geopolitical evolution. The term ultimately derives from the autonym Türk, which was first recorded in Old Turkic inscriptions during the 6th and 8th centuries, including the Bugut, Hüis Tolgoi, and Orkhon inscriptions (also known as the Orhon inscriptions, “Orhun Yazıtları” in Turkish). Variants like türük and türk referred to the Göktürks, one of the earliest known Turkic peoples of Central Asia. Over time, the term Türk came to denote the broader Turkic peoples.
In Western languages, the name evolved through several stages. The Medieval Greek term Tourkia (Τουρκία) originally referred to the lands of Turkic-speaking peoples and was used by the Byzantines, particularly after the Seljuks established control over Anatolia following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. In Latin, it became Turchia or Turquia, and from Old French Turquie, it entered Middle English as Turkye, later evolving into Turkey by the early 18th century. Early references to the name can be found in works like Chaucer’s The Book of the Duchess (c. 1368) and Francis Bacon’s Sylva Sylvarum (see notes 1).
From “Turkey” to “Türkiye”
The Ottomans themselves referred to their realm as the Devlet-i Aliyye-i Osmaniye (The Sublime Ottoman State), but among Europeans, the Ottoman Empire was often called “Turkey” or “the Turkish Empire.” When the Republic of Turkey was founded on October 29, 1923, the official name Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (Republic of Turkey) was adopted, reflecting the Turkish endonym Türkiye, meaning “land of the Turks.”
So, the country has long been referred to as “Türkiye” by us, the citizens of Turkey, and officially by the state in both domestic and formal contexts.
In 2021, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a circular emphasizing the use of Türkiye in international contexts to represent the country’s culture and identity better and to avoid the pejorative associations of the English word “turkey” (the bird). The United Nations formally recognized this change in 2022, and Türkiye is now widely used in diplomatic contexts.
Other historical uses of “Turk” or related terms include mentions by Byzantine sources, the Arabic term Turkiyya, which referred to the Mamluk Sultanate, and even Chinese records, which described Turkic groups using terms like tu-jue. The name’s progression reflects the interactions between Turkic peoples and the diverse cultures and empires they encountered over millennia.
Notes
- Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for The Canterbury Tales, a collection of 24 stories that span over 17,000 lines written in Middle English. He has been called the “father of English literature”, or the “father of English poetry”.
Sources
- Orkhon inscriptions on Wikipedia
- Orhon inscriptions on the Encyclopedia Britannica website
- Name of Turkey on Wikipedia
