Turkey will now be known internationally as ‘Türkiye’ as part of a push to rebrand the country.
The country’s foreign minister Melvut Cavusoglu sent a letter to the United Nations requesting the name change earlier this week.
It has been seen as a bid to dissociate the country’s name from the bird, turkey, and some negative connotations associated with it.
A Turkish state-run news agency said that Stephane Dujarric, who is the spokesperson to UN Secretary General Antonio Gueterres, confirmed receipt of the request on Wednesday.
He was later quoted as saying that the name change had become effective shortly after the arrival of the letter.
The United Nations website now refers to Turkey as “Türkiye" on a number of its pages.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has been pressing for the internationally recognised name Turkey to be changed to “Türkiye” (pronounced tur-key-YAY) as it is spelled and pronounced in Turkish.
The country called itself “Türkiye” in 1923 after its declaration of independence.
In December, Mr Erdogan ordered the use of “Türkiye” to better represent Turkish culture and values, including a call for “Made in Türkiye” to be used instead of “Made in Turkey” on exported products.
Turkish ministries began using “Türkiye” in official documents.
Earlier this year, the government also released a promotional video as part of its attempts to change its name in English. The video shows tourists from across the world saying “Hello Türkiye” at famous destinations.
The Turkish presidency’s directorate of communications said it launched the campaign “to promote more effectively the use of ‘Türkiye’ as the country’s national and international name on international platforms”.
It is not clear whether the name will catch on widely abroad. In 2016, the Czech Republic officially registered its short-form name, Czechia. While some international institutions use this name, many still refer to the country by its longer name.
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