UNITED NATIONS: The UN confirmed on Friday that it has accepted a request from the Turkish government to change the country’s name from Turkey to Türkiye.

A picture released by Türkiye’s Anadolu news agency showed a Turkish diplomat, Ayse Inanc, sitting behind the new nameplate at the United Nations.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday afternoon that the United Nations had received a letter from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday, requesting Secretary General Antonio Guterres to use “Türkiye” instead of “Turkey” in all official documents.

Mr Dujarric said the name change becomes effective “from the moment” the UN secretariat receives the letter, although it takes a few days to implement the change. “Such requests are not uncommon,” said the UN spokesman while referring to similar changes in the past, such as from Burma to Myanmar. Ankara began the move to change its internationally recognised official name in English to Türkiye in December.

The move is part of a push to rebrand the country and dissociate it from the bird of the same name and negative connotations associated with it.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2022