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Toponymy: names of places

For ease and consistency, we use official Turkish modern spelling for city and location names, as defined by Türkiye Harita Genel Komutanlığı.

This modern spelling in Latin script appeared only after November 1928. Before that, spelling of place names was multiple and was somewhat phonetic in whatever language was used. In addition, during the Ottoman Empire, Grec, Latin and sometime French names were used alongside the Turkish name, like Smyrna and Izmir. Old documents from that time often use those names which were removed from common language by the Republic, and thus have been forgotten. The table below is a list of the most frequently encountered old names or old spellings and their modern equivalents. This is applicable to railway documents as well, either for internal documents, or for timetables and other published material where the lack of standardization is plainly visible.

Old or foreign name / spellingModern name
AlexandretteIskenderun
AngoraAnkara
Adrianople, Andrinople, Hadrianopolis, Edrene, OdrinEdirne
Ayasouluk, AyasalookSelcuk
BournabatBornova
BrousseBursa
CaystreKüçük Menderes
CordelioKarşıyaka
DiwirikDivriği
ErserumErzurum
FevziPascha, Fewsi PaschaFevzipaşa
FiliosFilyos
Jelat KahveSağlık
Karagatch, CaragatchKaraağaç
KaiseriehKayseri
Kayas, KyassPancar
KirkkiliseKirklareli
KosbounarKozpınar
Kouleli-BurgasLüleburgaz
La PointeAlsancak
MeandreBüyük Menderes
Scala NovaKuşadası
SiwasSivas
SmirnaIzmir
TriandaKuşcuburun
UlukischlarUlukışla
ZongouldakZonguldak