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Article published In: Journal of Language and Politics
Vol. 23:4 (2024) ► pp.496–519

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“Türkiye,” not “Turkey”

Nation branding in the age of populism and nationalism

ORCiD logo with link | The University of Alabama
Published online: 28 November 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.22104.sel
Abstract
This paper critically examines the recent presidential memorandum that replaced the Anglicized exonymic version “Turkey” with the endonym “Türkiye” as a conscious, performative and public relations campaign at both national and international levels. On the surface, this change addresses populist sociolinguistic hypersensitivities surrounding the connotations of the term “turkey” while simultaneously harnessing the commodification and marketization of the Turkey brand through selective references culled from collective memory (i.e., past) and branding aimed at economic gains (i.e., future). However, at the deeper level, this transformation serves as a discursive political instrument and a top-down nation branding effort powered by substantial resources from the state and its institutions with an ultimate motivation to consolidate President Erdoğan’s political power and authority, elevate his status to that of a national leader and institutionalize his populist/nationalist yerli ve millî rhetoric from a de facto to de jure within Yeni Türkiye as a competitive authoritarian regime.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Critical toponomy: From place names to critical place (re)naming
  • 3.Toponymic commodification: From place naming to place branding
  • 4.Getting rid of “Turkey”: An ideological nation (re)branding and rebuilding project
    • 4.1Politico-economic perspectives: Toponymic reconfiguration as an ideological apparatus in branding and rebuilding a nation
      • 4.1.1Commodification through nation branding
      • 4.1.2National identity formation through selective construction of collective memory
      • 4.1.3Construction of national identity with toponymic change
      • 4.1.4Positioning toponymic reconfiguration as both a domestic and international effort
  • 5.Discussion and conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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