Young Turks will be changing its name to Young after being made aware that the Young Turks had been a group that carried out the Armenian Genocide. The British record label, which hosts artists such as the xx, FKA twigs, Sampha and more, will also be donating an undisclosed sum to the Armenian Institute in London.
“From today, Young Turks will become Young,” the label’s founder, Caius Pawson, said in a statement on Instagram. “The name change follows a long period of reflection and I wanted to explain the origins of the Young Turks name and reasons for the change.”
“We originally named Young Turks after the Rod Stewart song of the same name,” Pawson continued. “When I first heard the song, it took a week of 2005-era internet searches to find out what it was and even longer to understand its meaning. The name intrigued me, evoking the solidarity of youth. In 2005, it seemed to perfectly sum up what we were: teenagers, wanting and waiting to do something, anything.”
The statement went on to explain the history of the Young Turks, who had been a group that carried out the Armenian Genocide in 1915. Due to the confusion within the name, the label said they made the decision to drop the “Turks” from their name, and simply be called Young.
The label’s publishing wing has also adopted the change, and will be called Young Songs going forward.
Young is not the only label to have made a name-change in recent months. Last June, One Little Indian changed its name to One Little Independent Records.
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