For decades, people from Turkey have had to put up with bad jokes involving the bird commonly eaten at Christmas and Thanksgiving across the world. But President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his senior officials are hoping a name change will bring that era to a close.
A request submitted last week to the UN by the country’s foreign minister asked for the nation to henceforth been known as “Türkiye” — pronounced “tooh-key-eh”. It was accepted immediately by the UN, and Ankara is now asking governments across the world to follow suit.
The move is part of a longstanding effort by Erdoğan to boost his nation’s image on the world stage — and bask in the reflected glory back home. Speaking last year, when his officials first publicly floated the idea, Erdoğan said that Türkiye was “the best representation and expression of the culture, civilisation and values of the Turkish people”.