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. 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 37 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