So there are two Turkeys. One's a nation state and the other is a bird. The turkey that's a rather rotund and quite tasty bird, is a new world species and thus seemingly entirely unrelated to Turkey the nation (those who have eaten a rotund Turkish bird should kindly keep their peurile humor to themselves).
The mixup happened like this. Turkish and Potish merchants had established two important trade routes from Northern Africa to Southern Europe by the turn of the 1st century AD. These primary routes consisted of traffic in the Guinea Fowl (prized for its sumptuous yet delicate meat) and Hemp (prized for its strong yet supple rope weaving fibers).
At some point in history, likely precipitated by the tragic Roman rope fire of 101AD, the name for the guinnea fowl became confused with name for the traders of the guinnea fowl, and the fowl took on the name turks. When new world explorers happened upon the the animal we now know as a turkey, they mistook it for the much smalled guinnea fowl and added the EY (an obscure Byzantine suffix which means larger and tasty with stuffing). And so there you have it.
