Former Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, Jon Ola Sand explains that TRT never informed the EBU of their reasons for withdrawing from the contest.
Speaking on the Eurovision Legends Podcast, Jon Ola Sand has spoken about the EBU’s efforts to bring Turkey back to competition following their withdrawal in 2013. Mr. Sand explained that TRT never presented the reason for why they withdrew from the competition to the European Broadcasting Union.
The former Executive Supervisor does not believe it was an issue with the rules “they never approached us, they never spoke to us”. “We had several attempts at the highest level of the EBU to understand why the situation became this way, but we never got any explanation”.
This comes in contrast to comments made during the past decade by TRT Director General’s who have stated to Turkish media why the broadcaster did not wish to return. In 2018, Mr Ibrahim Eren commented:
We don’t consider to rejoin the contest. We have reasons like the voting system. As a public broadcaster, we also cannot broadcast live at 9 p.m. –when children are still awake– someone like the bearded Austrian who wore a skirt, do not believe in genders and says that he is both a man and a woman
I have told the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) on the Eurovision issue that they deviated from their values. As a result, other countries also left Eurovision. There is a mental chaos at the EBU because of its executives. If they can fix it, we can join Eurovision again.
The EBU and TRT held discussions earlier this year with the aim to bring Turkey back to the competition. TRT is not among the 42 broadcasters that will be competing in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy.
Image Source: Eurovision.tv | Source: Eurovision Legends
Turkey first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1975. During the 20th century, Turkey only managed to place in the top 10 on two occasions, ninth in 1986 and third in 1997. Turkey won in 2003 with “Every Way That I Can”, their first-ever entry completely in English. They went on to achieve six top 10 results in the following years. They withdrew in 2013, citing dissatisfaction with the rules of the contest.
