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TRT the Turkish national broadcaster has reportedly confirmed that they will not be participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kyiv, Ukraine.

According to the Turkish website Escape News, TRT has confirmed that they will not be participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Ukraine. Turkey last participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, when Can Bonomo took Turkey to 7th place in the final scoring 112 points.ย Turkey joins Andorra, Monaco and Luxembourg in confirming their non-participation in Kyiv.

Turkey’s non-participation in the contest is reportedly down to the countries dissatisfaction with the mixed jury and televote rules as well as the use of the “Big Five”. The introduction of the mixed jury and televote saw Turkey miss their first Eurovision final in 2011, the country finished 10th in the televote but 12th with the juries. Furthermore in 2012 the country finished 4th with the public in the televote but 22nd with the jury. The Big Five means that the five largest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union are automatically qualified for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2013 TRT were due to broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest, however due to Krista Siegfrieds “Lesbian kiss”, the broadcaster did not broadcast the final. Furthermore in 2014 the participation of Austria’s Conchita Wurst saw TRT fail to broadcast the final again.

To date a total of 37ย countries have stated their intention to compete or have shown an interest in taking to the stage in Kyiv. Portugal has stated their intention to return to the contest, while Romania looks likely to return having filed the paperwork necessary to compete. A number of countries are still yet to publicly state whether they will be participating they are; Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Serbia and San Marino. It is not yet known if Australia has been invited to participate again in 2017, while Bosnia & Herzegovina is looking unlikely to be competing next year.


Update:

Reports in the Turkish media today state that Ali Durgut former member of the Turkish delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest met with TRT today. Mr Durgut now runs INFE Turkey, a fan club devoted to the Eurovision Song Contest. According to the reports a decision on Turkish participation will be made in early October.

Source: Escapenews.com, IHA

13 thoughts on “Turkey: No Return To The Eurovision Song Contest in 2017?”

  1. I couldn’t care about Turkey entering the Euro song contest but I do think they have a point regarding the big five .. I hate the fact that we in Britain have to pay so much for this so-called contest . I think whoever wins should be made to pay for the bloody thing ! After all , we all know here that everyone hates the UK .. until they want our money !

    1. We don’t hate the UK, we hate your people’s attitude.

      Don’t blame Eurovision calling it a “so-called contest” just because you can’t send a good act. Maybe if you started taking Eurovision seriously and started sending good artists (like Jade Ewen and Bonnie Tyler) who can sing then maybe you wouldn’t end up in the bottom 10 all the time…

      1. Agree with you, Alex. If the BBC started sending songs with style then they may climb up the board. However the reason why they do not take it all too seriously is very simple; they don’t have to โ€“ the UK is Europe’s largest music producer, it’s not that Adele would enter a Eurovision stage, never ever. But I still agree with you, the BBC could AT LEAST send modern, young songs with young ambitious artists. This year’s entry was a good example, although not scoring so well.

  2. Finally, Turkey will decided to go to Kiev in October. And since Bosnia and Herzegovina withdrew, Slovakia returns. And I hope that the EBU allows associate members to compete.

  3. Okay, I’m actually not too sad because they behave like crybabies. You didn’t deserve to qualify in 2011 and that’s why you didn’t, Turkey. And the juries are needed in the contest. They rightfully didn’t want you to qualify in 2012 either, since you sent absolute crap that year. But unfortunately, the stupid televoters saved you.

  4. I really hope Turkey won’t return in 2017, because this is becoming unbearable… And I won’t be sad if they don’t return.

  5. I wanna we come to Eurovision cause this really big tv show and excited contest.I hope return to Eurovision.I from Turkey

  6. Turkey’s complaints might have a point but essentially it runs parallel to their recent estrangement from Europe.. an increasingly autocratic Turkey not participating in the contest after having censored the lesbian-gay scenes.. not surprising!

  7. If turkey choses Edis and Aleyna tilki ,they can win the eurovision contest, I hope they chose these two ,because on the other hand they cant be successful.

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