TÜRKİYE has positioned its title next to various services and products such as TV series, defence industry and transport. The country has been diversifying its stops in its quest for global branding. First riveting its name with Turkish coffee regarding a good or a service, Türkiye continued its quest with products such as Turkish delight and towels. Nowadays, many different products and services meet the world under the Türkiye brand. Following are the goods and services identified with the Türkiye brand:

TURKISH COFFEE

Turkish coffee is the first beverage to enter UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List and the first product to identify with the Turkish brand globally. With a distinct cooking method, Turkish coffee stands out as a coffee with a sharper aroma, for it is finely ground and roasted, and the cooking technique is blended with water. Coffee was transferred to Europe with the Turks’ Vienna expedition and was thus crowned globally with the Turkish coffee brand.

TURKISH DELIGHT

Turkish delight is the inseparable mate of coffee and is one of the most recognized products of the Türkiye brand. This soft Turkish confectionery of cooked sugar and starch was carried to Europe by a British traveller visiting Istanbul in the 19th century and thus initiated its representation worldwide.

TURKISH TOWEL    

Turkish towels are one product that automatically comes to mind with the name Türkiye. A reflection of the Turkish bath - hammam - culture with a prominent place in Turkish personal care routine, the Turkish towel started to take its current form in the 16th century. These towels, with high absorptive power and manufactured with domestic cotton, have been carrying the Türkiye brand across the globe today.

TURKISH TV SERIES

Turkish TV series is one product that has positioned the Türkiye brand in new areas in recent years. The export of Turkish movies and TV series reached US$ 750 million in 2022 and is expected to exceed US$ 1 billion by the end of 2023. Turkish TV series ranks second in the global export of TV series.

TURKISH DIGITAL GAMES

The digital games sector became one of the most invested sectors. Turkish game sector received US$ 14.4 million worth of investment in 2020, US$ 264.8 million in 2021 and US$ 424.7 million in 2022 and remained at the top of Europe with these figures. Last year, Istanbul ranked second after London in Europe regarding signed digital games contracts. Istanbul ranked fifth in the worldwide ranking.

TURKISH AID

Türkiye’s awareness of disasters such as earthquakes, wildfires and wars associated the country’s name with awareness and aid. Türkiye’s humanitarian aid campaigns carried out by public bodies and NGOs rendered Türkiye as one of the most generous countries based on international aid in proportion to its domestic income.

TURKISH DEFENCE INDUSTRY

Requiring high technology, the defence industry turned out to be one of Türkiye’s most notable brands. Türkiye is one of the few countries cited in UAV and UAV production. Turkish defence products’ success was also reflected in Türkiye’s export figures. The defence industry’s exports in 2022 increased by nearly 36.9 per cent and reached US$ 4.3 billion, compared with the figures for 2021.

TURKISH TECHNOLOGY

Türkiye has been strengthening its global brand value with the technology and innovative products manufactured in recent years. The first domestic car, Togg, was launched on the highways in 2023, and thus, Türkiye took its place among countries that own the technology to manufacture vehicles. Türkiye ranked 13th on the European patent application performance list of G20 countries in 2022.

TURKISH TOURISM 

Türkiye is one of the rare countries to enjoy four seasons simultaneously, and the country stands out with its advantages in areas such as gastronomic culture, transportation infrastructure and healthcare investments. According to the ‘Global Travel Report’ prepared by the World Travel Market (WTM), Türkiye is projected to break a tourism record and take the second rank in Europe regarding visitor numbers in 2024.

TURKISH GASTRONOMY

Regarded as one of the world’s distinguished cuisines with its diverse delicacies, Türkiye was placed at the top with ten meat dishes in the ‘TasteAtlas Best Meat Dishes Ranking’ in one of the taste lists prepared by the TasteAtlas. Additionally, Türkiye’s six types of flatbreads took part in the ‘World’s Top 100 Flatbreads’ ranking. On the other hand, Türkiye’s four venues of taste remained in the ‘World’s Legendary 150 Dessert Places’ ranking. Famous for his baklavas, Hafız Mustafa, based in Istanbul, ranked 2nd while Karaköy Güllüoğlu - another recognized baklava maker, ranked 6th. Zekeriya Usta (Master Zekeriya) in Gaziantep ranked 24th in the list, with katmer (a crisp, flaky pastry) and Istanbul’s famous ice-creamer Ali Usta (Master Ali) ranked 60th in the list.

Brand city Istanbul

Istanbul is unquestionably Türkiye’s most prominent brand. In international consultancy firm Kearney’s ‘Global Cities Index’, Istanbul rose three ranks and ranked 25th city in 2023. The rapid progress the city achieved in the ‘cultural experiences’ area, which is one of the criteria in the index, profoundly contributed to Istanbul’s advancement. The City’s new positioning as a ‘travel hub’ upon the opening of the Istanbul airport and the immense increase in international visitors advanced Istanbul 20 steps within five years in ‘cultural experiences’ criteria and placed the city in the 15th rank.

An education brand

Increasing its number of universities to 208, Türkiye became a brand in the global market thanks to its investments and advantages in education. Based on UNESCO data, Türkiye remains among the top five countries in Europe regarding the number of international students, while the country is on the list of top ten countries across the globe. Three hundred one thousand international students from 182 countries receive education services in Türkiye.

A brand in diplomacy
Türkiye has been celebrating its 500th anniversary in diplomacy, and according to the data provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the country with 260 representations is one of the world’s five countries with the broadest diplomatic network. Represented at the embassy level in 146 countries, Türkiye adopts an

agile and humanitarian approach to foreign politics.

A brand in transport
According to the UK-based flight research company Skytrax list, Turkish Airlines (THY) ranked the world’s sixth-best airline for 2023. The list is based on evaluating many components, such as the flight crew, seats, catering and lounge services. THY has also been selected as Europe’s best airline company. In the ‘Most Powerful Global Airline Brands of 2023’ research by the international brand assessment association Brand Finance, THY ranked 8th with 78.1 points. Based on its market value, THY became the world’s most valuable 8th airline company with a valuation worth US$ 12.5 billion. The research conducted by the aviation data collection and analysis company Cirium revealed that in 2023, Istanbul Airport ranked 7th in the world’s busiest airports ranking.