Good-bye, 'Turkey'; Hello, 'Türkiye'!

DALLAS - News from Ankara today says that the Turkish Airlines (TK) name will soon be a thing of the past. In its place will be the name "Türkiye Hava Yollar." The change in name comes as the country moves to rebrand itself away from the "Turkey" moniker and the sometimes negative connotations and jokes associated with it.

“Turkey no longer exits. It is Türkiye. From now on, Türkiye Hava Yolları will be inscribed on the bodies of our planes instead of Turkish Airlines,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Tuesday as he announced the name change for his country’s flag carrier. "Hava Yolları” is "airlines" in Turkish.

A Country Rebranding

Earlier this month, the country itself sent notice to the United Nations that it would formally register in the group as “Türkiye”—as it is spelled and pronounced in Turkish. In December, the president called for the use of “Türkiye” to better represent Turkish culture and values. The United Nations and NATO have already begun using the new name.

The country called itself “Türkiye” in 1923 after its declaration of independence. To learn the proper pronunciation, visit this link.

To know more about the airline the Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee at TK who assumed his role in January 2022, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Bolat presents an insightful and optimistic view on the ability of the airline to capture passenger growth in the coming years in an exclusive interview with Airways.

Featured image: Istambul Airport