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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Ewan Paton

Why is Scotland's opponent Turkey now called Turkiye?

Scotland face Turkiye in an international friendly match tonight.

It will be only the second time that the national teams have met.

Steve Clarke will be looking for his men to keep up their recent good form to end the year on a high.

Of course, Scotland would rather be preparing for the World Cup in Qatar, but a friendly game will need to do. 

Turkiye are the opponents Scotland are faced with at the Diyabakir Stadium.

However, while the football will be the main talking point come 5pm, why have Turkiye change their name from the previous spelling of Turkey? We have the answer for you. 

Earlier this year, the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has asked the international community to recognise Turkey by its Turkish name, Türkiye. 

This has dropped the long-standing anglicised version that was often confused with the famous festive animal.

Erdoğan said: "The word Türkiye represents and expresses the culture, civilisation, and values of the Turkish nation in the best way."

International organisations such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and NATO have already adopted Türkiye (pronounced as "tur-key-yay"), following a formal request from the Turkish authorities.

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