Turkey is no great ally to the LGBTQ+ community which explains why absolutely no one was surprised when the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation announced Turkey will not participate in Eurovision2019. Turkey has not participated in the Eurovision Song Contestsince 2012 when they had disagreements over voting and contestants like the 2014 winner Conchita Wurst (pictured above).
According to Pink News, Turkey has no plans to participate in the 2019 competition with reasons pointing to the LGBTQ+ community. In 2013, Finland’s entry Krista Siegfrids kissed a woman backing dance on-stage to protest for marriage equality which caused Turkey to scrap broadcasts of the competition entirely. When Wurst won in 2014, the chairman of Turkey’s foreign affairs committee said:
“Thank God we no longer participate in Eurovision.”
Since their initial dropping out in 2012, they have not returned and will likely not return for a very long time. If Turkey won’t return until Eurovision isn’t gay, they’ll be left waiting until Hell freezes over.
Turkey is no stranger to LGBTQ+ discrimination with a history of discrimination such as banning LGBTQ+ events in Turkey’s capital, waiting until 2015 to get rid of anal exams for gays seeking to leave the military, and banning Grindr in 2013.
h/t: pinknews.co.uk, gnc.ie