Toponymic Diplomacy: A New Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Geopolitics of Place Names

ABSTRACTThe last a few decades have witnessed the proliferation of critical studies focusing on the political aspects of place names. However, most of these critical studies are limited in scope: they have solely focused on the politics of place names in the local and national context. So, the relationship between place names and international relations has yet to be analysed systematically. To contribute to the filling of this gap in critical toponymy literature, this study proposes a new concept – 'toponymic diplomacy' – to explain the cases in which place names, and more specifically street names, are used as tools in diplomatic relations, and discusses this concept in the case of Ankara, Turkey. AcknowledgementsThis paper is prepared in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair of "Naming the World" that is based in Geneva University. The author is responsible for the choice and the contents of this article and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. I would like to thank Reuben Rose-Redwood, Rukiye Tınas, Ali Onur Özçelik, and Eda Düzgün for their valuable feedbacks. I would also like to thank Emily Helal for her diligent proofreading of this article.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1. In reply to a question on the decision of street naming, US Department of State spokesperson Heather Nauert said that 'They can call it whatever they want. As long as it's in accordance with their own law, we're fine with that' (Washington Post Citation2018).2. Already in 2015, the name of a square bearing Nevzat Tandoğan's name was changed as Anatolia Square. The new name was chosen to make a reference to the phrase of 'ox Anatolians' that was allegedly used by Nevzat Tandoğan in order to despise the ordinary people living in Anatolia (Bora Citation2015).3. These struggles have been named as 'toponymic warfare' (Kadmon Citation2004) and 'street fights' (Karimi Citation2016).4. For a review of the critical toponymy studies that use Bourdieu's conception of 'symbolic capital' see (Rose-Redwood Citation2008a, 435).5. Examples are as follows: Direct military interventions in Syria and Iraq, indirect military intervention in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts, sending military reinforcements to Qatar, and the threat of use of force against a number of countries including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Greece, and France.