Joining in viral Twitter trend, Turkish president stresses the country he leads

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) – Sharing a single-word tweet, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday joined a viral Twitter trend in his own signature way.

“Türkiye” tweeted Erdogan, stressing his patriotism for Turkish readers, while for international ones he continued the push for the acceptance of Türkiye as the country’s standard name worldwide.

This June, the UN registered "Türkiye" as the new name to be used in place of Turkey/Turquie/Turkei or other international variants.

This Monday, at an international conference in Slovenia, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu gently chided a panel presenter for using the old English name in introducing the top diplomat.

After Cavusoglu urged the British presenter to use “Türkiye” instead, he did so for the rest of the panel.

Twitter on Friday was filled with one-word tweets from people, companies, organizations, and world leaders.

Within a few hours of the trend emerging, US President Joe Biden tweeted “democracy,” evoking his Thursday speech warning that what he called “MAGA Republicans” and former President Donald Trump pose a threat to American democracy.

It remains unclear where the trend first started, or what prompted it.