The Turks of Samsun are not sitting ducks.
The city of Samsun in Turkey, beholds a history of several millenia; founded as Amisos by the Greeks, it was a Byzantine stronghold until it fell to the Ottomans.
After the mass slaughtering of Greeks between 1915-1920, Samsun – a name created from the phrase “to Amisos” or “eis Amison” in Greek – became the launching pad of Kemal Ataturk’s revolution.
The city’s mayor, Mustafa Siktirordanoglu, noticed an influx of visitors to Samsun.com.tr and became suspicious:
“Many peoples ask me where is electron you sell, I tell them no idea what you say. Search Turkiye internet find Samsung sell cell and television, bad name for Turkiye when claim same name Anatolia!”, exclaims the mayor.
The remarkable proximity of Samsun to Samsung has caused many locals to switch to other brands, boycotting Samsung.
The mayor has threatened to sue, unless Samsung changes their name.
“Old peoples here, Samsun. But Koreans find other name, or ask billion dollar for give bad name to Turkiye!”, yelled the mayor, Mustafa Siktirordanoglu, while drinking his coffee. Other cussing ensued.
Obviously, the cheapest method would be to file a UDRP over the name, Samsung.com.
Lucius – A well dug up bit of investigative reporting there!
Turkey’s also been battling to file another UDRP against any use of the name “Batman” – another city in Turkey where Greeks were mass-slaughtered constantinopaly since 1490 to 1925 .