Turkish Rulers Changing Toponyms

Ottoman and Turkish rulers realized the strategic importance of toponyms and carried out consistent policies towards their distortion and appropriation. With the aim of the assimilation of the toponyms of the newly conquered territories the Ottoman authorities translated them into Turkish from their original languages or transformed the local dialectal place-names by the appropriation of contamination to make them sound like Turkish word-forms. Yet another method of appropriation was that of the deliberate etymological misinterpretation of the toponyms in question. Another government decision was to change “Western Armenia” to “Eastern Turkey”.

Ottoman and Turkish rulers realized the strategic importance of toponyms and carried out consistent policies towards their distortion and appropriation. With the aim of the assimilation of the toponyms of the newly conquered territories the Ottoman authorities translated them into Turkish from their original languages or transformed the local dialectal place-names by the appropriation of contamination to make them sound like Turkish word-forms. Yet another method of appropriation was that of the deliberate etymological misinterpretation of the toponyms in question. Another government decision was to change “Western Armenia” to “Eastern Turkey”.