Washington: After some hesitation and a request from a NATO ally, the US State Department announced Thursday that it has adopted Turkey's preferred spelling for the nation's name.

According to the department, Turkiye should now be referred to as Turkiye in new official documents, even though the pronunciation will remain the same. However, as of Thursday afternoon, neither the State Department website nor the Foreign Affairs Manual, which governs US diplomatic practices, had been updated to reflect the change.

According to the department, the US government was asked by the Turkish Embassy to refer to Turkey as the "Republic of Turkey" in communications. "In most formal, diplomatic and bilateral contexts, including public communications, we will begin to refer to Turkey and the Republic of Turkey accordingly."

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The move comes ahead of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's anticipated visit to Washington later this month, during which Turkey's stance on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and opposition to Finland and Sweden's membership in NATO will be high on the agenda.

There were discrepancies in documents throughout the US government because several other federal agencies, such as the Treasury Department, had already adopted the new spelling.

The amendment was made public at the same time that the State Department issued a statement supporting the Treasury's decision to sanction a number of Turkish-related businessmen and organizations for their support of the Islamic State. Later, this was confirmed by two department representatives.

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The United Nations and NATO were among the organizations that adopted the new spelling last year following Turkey's request at international forums.

However, the State Department rarely modifies its use of foreign country names, and in at least one notable instance, has done so for decades.

Even though Burma's military rulers formally adopted Myanmar in 1989, the US has refused to call the country by that name.

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North Macedonia, which changed its name from Macedonia in 2019, and Eswatini, which changed its name from Swaziland a year earlier, were the last two nations named by the State Department at the request of their governments.