page_title: Geographical name changes in Turkey
section_title: Comparative analysis
hierarchical_section_title: Geographical name changes in Turkey / Comparative analysis
caption_attribution_description: English: The percentage of renamed place names in Turkey by province based on Sevan Nişanyan's Adını unutan ülke: Türkiye'de adı değiştirilen yerler sözlüğü (2010, Everest Yayınları, Istanbul) p. 52
context_page_description: Geographical name changes in Turkey have been undertaken, periodically, in bulk from 1913 to the present by successive Turkish governments. Thousands of names within the Turkish Republic or its predecessor the Ottoman Empire have been changed from their popular or historic alternatives in favour of recognizably Turkish names, as part of Turkification policies. The governments have argued that such names are foreign or divisive, while critics of the changes have described them as chauvinistic. Names changed were usually of Armenian, Greek, Georgian, Bulgarian, Kurdish, Zazaki, Syriac, Yazidi or Arabic origin.
  Turkey's efforts to join the European Union in the early 21st century have led to a decrease in the incidence of such changes from local government, and the central government even more so. In some cases legislation has restored the names of certain villages. Place names that have formally changed frequently persist in local dialects and languages throughout the ethnically diverse country.
  This policy began during the final years of the Ottoman Empire and continued into its successor, the Turkish Republic.
context_section_description: Most of the geographical name changes occurred in the eastern provinces of the country and on the coast of the eastern Black Sea, where minority populations tend to live. Through independent study, etymologist Sevan Nişanyan estimates that, of the geographical location name changes, 4,200 were Greek, 4,000 Kurdish, 3,600 Armenian, 750 Arabic, 400 Assyrian, 300 Georgian, 200 Laz, and 50 others. The official statistics of The Special Commission for Name Change (Ad Degistirme Ihtisas Komisyonu) claim that the total number of villages, towns, cities, and settlements renamed is 12,211. The chart below lists the provinces and the number of villages or towns renamed.
caption: Percentage of geographical name changes in Turkey from 1916 onwards
exif: {}