Turkey may have officially changed its name – but it can’t make all its problems disappear

Ankara has officially changed the country’s name to Türkiye, writes Borzou Daragahi

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the new name 'represents and expresses the culture, civilisation and values of the Turkish nation in the best way' (Reuters)

Ankara on 1 June wrapped up the paperwork to officially change the country’s name on all international documentation and organisations from Turkey to Türkiye, pronounced “toor-kee-yeh,” the way Turks spell and pronounce the country’s name.

In addition to launching thousands of Google searches on how to write the letter u with an umlaut on an English-language keyboard, the name change brings up some fascinating etymological and historical insights.

Turkish authorities have long been irked that the word for their country is synonymous in English with the clumsy-looking holiday fowl. In American slang, it’s also a slightly anachronistic though mild insult – something a dad might have called a referee making a bad call at his kid’s football game some 30 years ago.