Turkey has participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

34 times since its debut in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. Since the introduction of the semi-finals in , Turkey has only failed to qualify for the final once, in . Turkey won the contest once in , and hosted the contest in

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. Turkey finished last on its debut at the contest in

, and went on to finish last with ''

nul points The winner of the Eurovision Song Contest is selected by a positional voting system. The most recent system was implemented in the , and sees each participating country award two sets of 12, 10, 8–1 points to their ten favourite songs: one set f ...

'' in and . They reached the top ten for the first time in 1986. Şebnem Paker achieved the country's first top five result in , finishing third with the song " Dinle". The country went on to achieve five more top five placements after the introduction of the free language rule and televoting, with

Sertab Erener Sertab Erener (born 4 December 1964) is a Turkish singer, songwriter and composer. With her coloratura soprano voice, she started working as a backing vocalist for Sezen Aksu, and with Aksu's help she released her first studio album in the 1990 ...

giving Turkey its first victory in with the song " Everyway That I Can". Turkey's other top five results are

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(),

Kenan Doğulu Kenan Doğulu (; born 31 May 1974) is a Turkish pop musician. He represented Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, where he was placed fourth, with 163 points. In the summer of 2006, Doğulu released the album ''Festival'', ...

(),

Hadise Hadise Açıkgöz (born 22 October 1985). hadisemusic.com is a Belgian-Turkish singer-songwriter, dancer, and television personality. Born and raised in Belgium, her family is of Lezgin- Kumyk origin who settled in Sivas, Turkey. In 2003, she ...

(), who all finished fourth, and

Manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

(), who finished second. The Turkish broadcaster

TRT The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT; Turkish : ) is the national public broadcaster of Turkey, founded in 1964. TRT was for many years the only television and radio provider in Turkey. Before the introduction of commercial radio i ...

announced in December 2012 that they would not participate in the , citing dissatisfaction with the rules of the competition. 2013 was the first time since that there was no television broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest on TRT. In September 2013, TRT stated a return is unlikely for the , citing the same reasons. , they are yet to return to the contest having stated similar reasons for their absence each year.

History

Turkish Radio and Television Corporation involvement in the Eurovision Song Contest

The national broadcasting service of Turkey, the

Turkish Radio and Television Corporation The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT; Turkish : ) is the national public broadcaster of Turkey, founded in 1964. TRT was for many years the only television and radio provider in Turkey. Before the introduction of commercial radio ...

(TRT), was one of the charter members of the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the C ...

(EBU) in 1950 along with eighteen countries around Europe, including

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. As an intercontinental country (with lands in

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and

Western Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes A ...

), Turkey takes part in a multitude of Western organizations including

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

as of 1952 and the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lis ...

as an associate member as of 1959. TRT televised the Eurovision Song Contest between

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, even during years in which Turkey was not participating in the contest.

1970s

Turkey made its debut at the in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

, Sweden.

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

did not take part in the contest for "unknown reasons" according to the EBU, but it was later revealed that the withdrawal was in protest of Turkey's debut and their invasion of Cyprus in 1974. TRT organized a national final to select the first ever Turkish entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest. The final took place on 9 February 1975 in the studios of TRT and was hosted by

Bülend Özveren Bülend Özveren (1943 – 18 October 2022) was a Turkish television presenter and sports commentator. Özveren completed his secondary education at (Istanbul) and higher education at Galatasaray High School. He graduated from Istanbul Univers ...

. The winning song, "

Seninle Bir Dakika Turkey took part in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 1975. The country was represented by Semiha Yankı with the song "Seninle Bir Dakika" written by Hikmet Münir Ebcioğlu and composed by Kemal Ebcioğlu. It came last in the E ...

" (literally "A minute with you") by Semiha Yankı, was picked by averaging the ranks from the professional jury and people's jury. At the close of voting during the contest, the song received only three points from

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

and placed last. In

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, Greece's entry to the contest aroused controversy due to its subject matter being the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Turkey withdrew from the contest to protest the political background of Greece's entry, called " Panagia Mou, Panagia Mou." Turkey televised the final on 3 April 1976 but censored the Greek entrant's performance. They played a nationalist Turkish song titled "Memleketim" (literally "My motherland", the Turkish cover of the Yiddish folk song "Rabbi Elimelekh"), which was one of the symbols of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in Turkey. Turkey did not take part in the contest again until

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

, placing 18th with the song "

Sevince Turkey took part in the Eurovision Song Contest for the second time in 1978. The country was represented by Nilüfer and Nazar with the song "Sevince" written by Hulki Aktunç and composed by Dağhan Baydur and Onno Tunç. The entry was chosen du ...

" performed by Nazar and Nilüfer. The was held in

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. The Turkish entry selected was "Seviyorum" (literally "I'm in love") by Maria Rita Epik. However, Turkey withdrew from the contest due to pressure from neighboring Arab countries to do so, which arose from the ongoing controversy regarding the

status of Jerusalem The status of Jerusalem is disputed in both international law and diplomatic practice, with both the Israelis and Palestinians claiming Jerusalem as their capital city.Moshe Hirsch, Deborah Housen-Couriel, Ruth Lapidoth''Whither Jerusalem?: Pro ...

1980s

Turkey participated in the Eurovision Song Contest consistently throughout the 1980s. In , Turkish superstar

Ajda Pekkan Ayşe Ajda Pekkan (; born 12 February 1946) is a Turkish singer. She is known by the title "superstar" in the Turkish media. Pekkan became a prominent figure of Turkish pop music with her songs, in which she tried to create a strong female figure. ...

and the song "

Petrol Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic c ...

" was selected by TRT through a national final. Pekkan placed 15th with 23 points, including the first ever score 12 points received by Turkey, coming from

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

. Turkey had their best result (until 1997) in the in

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, Norway, when

Klips ve Onlar Klips ve Onlar was a Turkish band of the 1980s. They represented Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian ...

placed ninth with a total of 53 points. The country scored ''nul points'' twice in the eighties, first in (shared with

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) and later in . Several famous Turkish artists performed for the contest during the 1980s, including Ajda Pekkan, Neco, Candan Erçetin and

MFÖ Mazhar-Fuat-Özkan (MFÖ), also known by their original name Mazhar ve Fuat, is a Turkish pop and rock band with Mazhar Alanson, Fuat Güner and Özkan Uğur as members. While many of their songs poke fun at common Turkish types ("Ali Desidero" ...

1990s

The contest's popularity in Turkey suffered after Kayahan, one of the most famous singers in the country, placed 17th out of 22 participating countries with 21 points. After Kayahan's poor result, Turkey's Eurovision entrants were mostly unknown or amateur singers until . Şebnem Paker represented the country in two consecutive years. The first time being in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

where she qualified for the final and placed 12th, and the second in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

where she placed third, behind the UK and Ireland, with the song " Dinle" ("Listen"), sung in Turkish. After the free language rule was re-introduced in 1999, the first Turkish entry to be partially sung in English was at the . Turkey reached the top 10 for a second time since 1986, and landed in the top three for the first time, making it the most successful result for the country until its victory in 2003. Şebnem Paker returned to the Turkish national final in 1998, but placed fourth and did not qualify for the contest as the Turkish participant for a third consecutive year. Tüzmen represented the country and placed 14th. Turkey participated throughout all of the 1990s except for the , from which they were relegated due to their 21st-place finish in 1993.

2000s and 2010s

In the late 1990s to early 2000s, the contest became one of the most popular events in Turkey as a result of the participation of other Eastern European countries, and

's win in with the song " Everyway That I Can". Following the introduction of televoting in 1998, (initially trialed in 1997 and first implemented in Turkey in 1999), Turkey went on to achieve eight top 10 results in the contest. "Everyway That I Can" was the first Turkish entry in the contest to be sung completely in English. TRT selected the entry through an internal selection mainly organised by OGAE Turkey. The 2004 contest was held in the

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, with the first-ever semi-final held on 12 May, followed by the final on 15 May. After Erener's victory (with the exception of the and contests), Turkish entries to the contest were chosen internally. Turkey had always qualified for the final (except for the in

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) since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004 and always reached the top ten, except in and . From 2000, Turkey had seven songs sung in English and four sung in both English and Turkish, with just three (, and ) songs sung entirely in Turkish. Along with Greece, Turkey brought the contest a new outlook with flashy stage performances and dresses alongside their oriental/Mediterranean-flavoured pop music acts (Sertab Erener,

Sibel Tüzün Ayşe Sibel Tüzün (born 29 September 1971) is a Turkish singer, songwriter and composer. Life and career Sibel began her musical education at the TRT Istanbul Children's Choir. During her secondary school years she joined the ''Youth Choir ...

and

). In 2004,

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2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

, the country was represented by bands, most of them with rock-influenced songs with Ottoman, Eastern European and Balkan instruments.

ranked fourth in 2004, when the contest was held in Istanbul;

Mor ve Ötesi Mor ve ötesi (literally ''Purple and Beyond''; a play on the word '' morötesi'', meaning ultraviolet) is a Turkish alternative rock band from Istanbul. Its four current members are Harun Tekin (vocals and rhythm guitar), Kerem Kabadayı (dru ...

ranked seventh with a song completely in Turkish in 2008 and the

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band

, named the Best European Act in the MTV Europe Music Awards 2009, ranked second in 2010. Yüksek Sadakat in 2011 placed 13th in the first semi-final of the contest and failed to qualify, marking the first and only time that Turkey failed to qualify for the final. In 2012, Turkey participated for the last time with the song " Love Me Back" by Can Bonomo, which placed seventh in the final with 112 points.

Withdrawal

TRT announced they would not participate in the on 14 December 2012, citing dissatisfaction with the rules of the competition; they have yet to return. The TRT cited the changes to the televote voting system, in which a jury was introduced and the significance of televoting decreased by 50%. For the first time, TRT did not televise the contest in 2013, nor did it broadcast the . Turkey did not participate in any of the contests from 2013 to 2023. In August 2018, İbrahim Eren, the Director-General of TRT, stated that TRT does not plan to rejoin the contest and break the boycott for various reasons, citing

Conchita Wurst Thomas Neuwirth (born 6 November 1988) is an Austrian singer and drag queen who is known for his stage persona Conchita Wurst (or simply Conchita). Neuwirth came to international attention after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 as with t ...

's participation and eventual victory in 2014. In June 2021, it was confirmed by both the EBU and Eren that they were in talks about the country potentially returning to the contest in the future. Despite this, Turkey was not on the final list of participants for the , published in October 2021.

Participation overview

;Notes:

''Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest''

Hostings

Awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Conductors

Commentators and spokespersons

Prior to 2012 every contest Turkey had taken part in had always been commentated on by Turkish television presenter

, with the exception of 1982–1985, 1990–1991, 1998–2001 and 2007. In addition Özveren also co-commentated the contest in 1979, 2004, 2011 and 2012. Out of the 38 years Turkey have broadcast the event Özveren has commentated on 29 of them making him 9 years short of being the contest's longest commentator.

Photogallery

File:Eurovision 2004 Opening Ceremony Sertab Erener.jpg,

in the opening of the . File:ESC 2007 Turkey - Kenan Doğulu - Shake it up Shekerim.jpg,

in Helsinki (

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

) File:Mor ve Ötesi, Turkey, ESC 2008, 2nd semifinal.jpg,

in Belgrade (

) File:Hadise.jpg,

in Moscow (

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

) File:MaNga - We Could be the Same (2nd Semi-final).jpg,

in Oslo (

)

Notes

References

External links

Lyrics of all Turkish Eurovision entries
''eurovisioncovers.co.uk'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Turkey In The Eurovision Song Contest Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest