Turkish Names of Naturalized Foreigners

[Levenspiel]

Truly a legend of Turkish basketball. I think they should have given them one of those Turkish names too, like they did with Erwin Dudley.

yeah, it could be good!

Those new names are funny, usually given after getting TR citizenship, but not mandatory (eg Emir Preldzic). I really doubt if the players can pronounce them. A few acquired Turkish names that comes to my mind:

Erwin Dudley --> Ersin Dagli
Michael Wright --> Ali Karadeniz
Petar Naumoski --> Namik Polat
Damir Mrsic --> Kaan Demir
Mirsad Jahovic --> Mirsad Turkcan
Edin Delic --> Nedim Dal
Ruslan ?? --> Rasim Basak

who else?

- Moved from another thread

[pata]

who else?

Ricky Winslow - Reşat Fırıncıoğlu.This one is absolutely my favoutite

Mirko Milicevic - Muhammed Onar is worth to mention.

[Levenspiel]

My God. Winslow's name is astounding. It is "Kartal Reşat Fırıncıoğlu" in full form. I really wonder the story behind this.

Yeah, how could I forget Milicevic. If i remember correctly he married a Turkish lady and then converted to Islam.

[melizei]

David Lee Dixon --> Davud Kamer

[Walken]

Ruslan ?? --> Rasim Basak

Ruslan Benger

Vsevolod Fadeikin - Selim Saygin
Orhan Gadzhiev - Haciyeva Orhan

[Levenspiel]

Ruslan Benger

Vsevolod Fadeikin - Selim Saygin
Orhan Gadzhiev - Haciyeva Orhan

Thank you, man.

two more;
Asim Peskanovic --> Asim Pars
Ermal Kuqo --> Ermal Kurtoglu

The new kids;
Kenan Spahi --> Kenan Sipahi
Buti Haxhismajli --> Burak Haciismail
Dusan Gavrilovic --> Dusan Cantekin

of course,
Arsen Ilyasov --> Ersan Ilyasova

(I don't get the logic behind Ilyasova's and Haciyeva's names. I mean it's stupid, so no logic is to be expected, but still why do they make them sound like female names?)

[surfer]

(I don't get the logic behind Ilyasova's and Haciyeva's names. I mean it's stupid, so no logic is to be expected, but still why do they make them sound like female names?)

don't know abıut Haciyeva but I always thought İlyasova could be like this, İlyas is already a male name in Turkish and ova means lowland so İlyasova at least mean smth in Turkish like "lowland of İlyas"

[chacharko]

And why they have to change the name? It's awkward if it's due the pressure from authorities (Hope not). What was wrong with the name Ruslan Benger, Orhan Gadzhiev, Ermal Kuqo or Dusan Gavrilovic?

[JGX]

The best part is that Azerbaijani guys are playing for the Azerbaijan national team using their Turkish names.

[turk-jugoslav]

And why they have to change the name? It's awkward if it's due the pressure from authorities (Hope not). What was wrong with the name Ruslan Benger, Orhan Gadzhiev, Ermal Kuqo or Dusan Gavrilovic?

In Turkish laws, Turkish citizens have to have Turkish names and surnames.

[turk-jugoslav]

The best part is that Azerbaijani guys are playing for the Azerbaijan national team using their Turkish names.

Yes, It's funny Mirsad Türkcan changed his surname in his Serbian passport to Turkdžan from Jahovic.

[chacharko]

In Turkish laws, Turkish citizens have to have Turkish names and surnames.

Hmm... Quite sad ..

[Levenspiel]

In Turkish laws, Turkish citizens have to have Turkish names and surnames.

I have zero background at law, but it seems complicated... I know for sure it "was" applicable to "Turkish" only (including all different ethnic backgrounds), but Turkish citizens from recognized minorities (Greeks, Armenians, Jews, etc) have always had their original names, and they've never been asked to change them...

I think the rule is not applied any more, though... Emir Preldzic didn't change his name, and there are a couple of football players who kept original names, as well.

it was an extremely stupid rule anyway, especially considering most of "Turkish" names are not actually Turkish...

There might be a limitation with the alphabet, though. W, X, Q, etc has to be converted to available letters in Turkish. Do we have a lawyer at IBN?

[turk-jugoslav]

I have zero background at law, but it seems complicated... I know for sure it "was" applicable to "Turkish" only (including all different ethnic backgrounds), but Turkish citizens from recognized minorities (Greeks, Armenians, Jews, etc) have always had their original names, and they've never been asked to change them...

I think the rule is not applied any more, though... Emir Preldzic didn't change his name, and there are a couple of football players who kept original names, as well.

it was an extremely stupid rule anyway, especially considering most of "Turkish" names are not actually Turkish...

There might be a limitation with the alphabet, though. W, X, Q, etc has to be converted to available letters in Turkish. Do we have a lawyer at IBN?

I am studying law at university I think the rules are more flexible in last years. Muslims in Turkey are considered as '' Turk'' even if they are Kurd,Circissian,Albanian or Bosnian.It's official politics of Turkish state and these people cannot have names on their native language.(This is also some flexible). Jews,Armenians and Greeks are recognized as minorities by the state, they can establish their own schools, they can have their own education programme which is separated from State's.Of course, There are some compulsory lessons from Turkish education programme for minority schools.
I guess Turkish names mean '' part of Turkish culture''. For exam, Ahmet(Ahmad) is an Arabic name but it's part of Turkish-Islamic culture. It is considered '' Turkish name''.