What’s in a name? A great deal, if Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is to be believed. His years-long quest to change his country’s moniker to Türkiye (pronounced Tur-key-yay) reached a successful conclusion last week when the UN gave its official blessing. “Türkiye is the best representation and expression of the Turkish people’s culture, civilisation and values,” Erdoğan declared. Maybe so, although in typically high-handed fashion, Erdoğan does not appear to have asked the Turkish people for their views.
Nor has he consulted Welsh and French speakers, for example, who have their own ways of talking turkey. Trying to book a flight from Caerdydd (Cardiff) to Twrci this summer could cause confusion. The French, being French, will likely stick to Turquie.
