NATION
How to pronounce
Türkiye
TUR·kee·ay
Native [ˈtyɾ.ci.je] → American /ˈtɜːr.ki.eɪ/
Sound by sound
3 little beats. BIG = the stressed part.
- TUR the ‘ur’ in fur — say this beat loudest
- kee the ‘ee’ in see
- ay the ‘ay’ in day
Talking about Türkiye
The words that trip people up — what to call the team, the people, and the language.
- One person
- a Turk
- The people / the team
- Turks (the team: the Crescent-Stars)
- As an adjective
- Turkish
- The language
- Turkish
The person is a Turk and the language and adjective are Turkish — note the country is now “Türkiye”, but the people are still “Turks”, not “Türkiyes”.
Like a local vs like an American
Don’t say…
- TUR-kee (like the bird)
- tur-KEE-yay
- TOOR-kee
- TUR·kee·ay — stress on TUR
Where the name comes from
Türkiye means “land of the Turks” — from Türk, the self-name of the Turkic peoples, first recorded in the 8th-century Göktürk inscriptions of Central Asia, plus the suffix -iye (“land of”). The English “Turkey” reached us the long way round — via Medieval Latin Turchia and Old French Turquie. In 2022 the country formally asked the UN and the world to use Türkiye in every language, partly to set the nation apart from the English word for the bird.
- Capital
- Ankara
- Confederation
- UEFA
- Best World Cup finish
- Third place (2002)
Hear it for real
Say it out loud — and check it.
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Practice in the appFAQ
How do you pronounce Türkiye?
Türkiye is pronounced TUR·kee·ay in American English — 3 beats, with the stress on TUR.
Where does the name Türkiye come from?
Türkiye means “land of the Turks” — from <em>Türk</em>, the self-name of the Turkic peoples, first recorded in the 8th-century Göktürk inscriptions of Central Asia, plus the suffix <em>-iye</em> (“land of”). The English “Turkey” reached us the long way round — via Medieval Latin <em>Turchia</em> and Old French <em>Turquie</em>. In 2022 the country formally asked the UN and the world to use <strong>Türkiye</strong> in every language, partly to set the nation apart from the English word for the bird.
Why is Turkey now called Türkiye?
In 2022 the government formally asked the United Nations and other bodies to use the Turkish-language name <strong>Türkiye</strong> internationally, in part to distance the country from the English word “turkey” (the bird). The native pronunciation is roughly TUR-kee-yeh; many American broadcasters say TUR-kee-ay.