Turkish Airlines to rebrand as Türkiye Hava Yolları

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the country’s national carrier, Turkish Airlines, will be rebranding as “Türkiye Hava Yolları” instead of “Turkish Airlines”; this comes as part of a push started late last year for the country to be known internationally as “Türkiye” instead of “Turkey.”

Earlier this month, the Turkish government sent a letter to the United Nations, formally re-registering the country’s name as “Türkiye,” as it is spelled and pronounced in Turkish. The country called itself “Türkiye” in 1923 after it declared independence but later became known as “Turkey.” They now want to formally change that as many people associate the country with the bird, the turkey.

The UN and NATO have also begun using “Türkiye” instead of “Turkey.” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg referred to the country as “Türkiye” during his visits to Helsinki and Stockholm this week, as did Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.