TURKEY 2016 - not taking part

[Nikkita]

At this point, we might as well accept that Turkey won't come back anytime soon seeing as they want the EBU to eliminate the jury vote and that's never going away.

That's just an excuse. TRT does not want to participate because they don't want to broadcast women with mini skirts, bearded "freaks" (JK, Conchita is my queen and saviour), same-sex kissing, drag queens... Turkey is politically not in the same page with EU anymore, the government (so as TRT, the channel of the government) try to be the leader of the Middle East, Western world is seen as immoral blah blah blah...
Damn it, you turned our lives into hell, at least bring our favourite show back.

 

[Brandt]

Bitch, I'm tired of Turkey going on and off. They even said they wanted before the 2015 competition was over now and now they take it all back. Not really surprised bc it's Turkey

Did you really expect Turkey to be back?

 

[julien4ESC]

It's a good news since turkey has no more european values.

 

[Adrian]

I'm honestly so happy they aren't coming back

 

[Cyberbliss]

Turkey isn't really looking West. In this sense I'm happy not to see their propaganda at ESC. Is it a pity? Yes it is but, well, better out than in. I'm sorry for all the young more open-minded people and I understand their frustration

 

[Grinch]

You can add "not taking part" to the title already. With all the awful things going on in the country, Eurovision is the last thing Turks can think about right now

As I said 1.5 month ago.

When AKP came into our poor lives in 2003, they wanted to be in EU very bad. So they gave importance to Eurovision so that they could make Turkey look "European". It did go on like that for years. Then, they decided to be "Arabian" this time and wanted Turkey look "Arabian". Of course, participating in Eurovision was the first barrier. As long as AKP is the government, Eurovision is a nice memory to us

I'm honestly so happy they aren't coming back

It's a good news since turkey has no more european values.

Thank you for sharing your highly valued thoughts with us. We were all waiting for you two to comment on this subject =)

 

[Matt]

A couple of years ago, the majority was sad and upset about Turkey's withdrawal. This time around, there seems to be more of a celebration and relief. It saddens me that it has come to this but I can completely understand why it has come to this.

The fans or the Turkish people (for the most part) are not to be blamed for this. As [MENTION=6700]Grinch[/MENTION] pointed out, the country is becoming less Western by the year and what was considered acceptable a few years ago, is now being frowned upon. With Erdogan running the country, I don't think we will see them back anytime soon.

BTW, we all know that the Big 5 complaint is just an excuse. I want Turkey back, but not this way I'm afraid. I feel really bad for the thousands of Turkish fans out there, they are the ones left out so my heart goes out to you.

 

[Romeo]

they need to stop throwing their toys out of the pram and get over the fact the juries are part of eurovision.

Just because they always did well in the televote (for obvious reasons) and they think the juries will mark the song on the quality of the song

they either need to get used to the fact that their advantage of 100% televote is no longer an option and participate, or just say from the beginning that they aren't going to participate because they no longer have an advantage.. simple.

Turkish Eurovision fans need to be taken into consideration, as well as viewing figures, 24% watched the contest when they last participated wasnt it?

 

[Sammy]

I'm sorry to hear that.
But I get the impression that either there are very different groups in Turkish television who make statements or that there is something else wrong. This overenthousiastic: "we take part" so early last season and then this prosaic : "no, we don't" now after so much speculation make people laugh about Turkey. And neither Turkey nor its artists nor people deserve this!
1

 

[DanielLuis]

they need to stop throwing their toys out of the pram and get over the fact the juries are part of eurovision.

Just because they always did well in the televote (for obvious reasons) and they think the juries will mark the song on the quality of the song

they either need to get used to the fact that their advantage of 100% televote is no longer an option and participate, or just say from the beginning that they aren't going to participate because they no longer have an advantage.. simple.

Turkish Eurovision fans need to be taken into consideration, as well as viewing figures, 24% watched the contest when they last participated wasnt it?

That is just an excuse, it's not the real reason why Turkey doesn't participate

 

[Adrian]

Thank you for sharing your highly valued thoughts with us. We were all waiting for you two to comment on this subject =)

I am super glad you loved my commentary! A lot of thought was put behind it!

 

[GWTW1939]

I'm sorry to hear that.
But I get the impression that either there are very different groups in Turkish television who make statements or that there is something else wrong. This overenthousiastic: "we take part" so early last season and then this prosaic : "no, we don't" now after so much speculation make people laugh about Turkey. And neither Turkey nor its artists nor people deserve this!
1

You make it sound like they were dangling participation in front of fans like Bulgaria, and even Bosnia to an extent does. All they said, pretty early on, was they were looking into a possibility and even that was hesitant and tenitive. Only fans were the ones who took that as conformation of participation. I don't recall them saying anything else officially until now. Everything else in between was basically from unconfirmed sources and fan sites spreading rumor.

Fans took every little unconfirmed piece of news and made it a big deal about it as they usually do. They were the overenthusiastic ones not the Turkish broadcasters. The only people laughing and think the Turkish broadcasters look like fools are those looking for a lame excuse to trash the country, which they don't deserve. There were NEVER any promises so I never understood why so many were so confident.

 

[Sammy]

You make it sound like they were dangling participation in front of fans like Bulgaria, and even Bosnia to an extent does. All they said, pretty early on, was they were looking into a possibility and even that was hesitant and tenitive. Only fans were the ones who took that as conformation of participation. I don't recall them saying anything else officially until now. Everything else in between was basically from unconfirmed sources and fan sites spreading rumor.

Fans took every little unconfirmed piece of news and made it a big deal about it as they usually do. They were the overenthusiastic ones not the Turkish broadcasters. The only people laughing and think the Turkish broadcasters look like fools are those looking for a lame excuse to trash the country, which they don't deserve. There were NEVER any promises so I never understood why so many were so confident.

I might be mistaken but at the time of the first announcement, I remember that it was a definite yes. I even remember, that it found it's way in the wikipedia article as being the most early confirmation in esc history.
But as I said, I might remember that incorrectly and you are absolutely right about fans and how they react to the tiniest little bit of hint (sometimes even less than a hint).

edit: I just went through older articles on esc-today. And in the one I remembered, it was stated (from turkish officials), that "Turkey plans to participate in 2016". So I remembered it too positive, as a plan is not a "definite yes", as I falsely stated earlier. Sorry for that.

But on the other hand, "planing to return" involves not so much hesitation or mere possibility. It rather means you have made your mind up and now you try to realize it. And this sounds very differently from what they say now, because the official reason for not participating has not changed in between.
So basically the people from turkish TV are to blame (at least to some extent) for the negative image that arises now.

 

[Marcos]

Another year without Eurovision, huh? Well, that sucks

 

[Yazy]

Another year without Eurovision, huh? Well, that sucks

Everyone who is missing out for 2 years or more can relate to this comment.

 

[Mrm]

[MENTION=6700]Grinch[/MENTION]

I also LOVE Van province and lake, I want smth from Van to represent Turkey in ESC! I wanna be a part of the Van mafia and criminal group! It sounds FUN!

 

[Mrm]

LET'S DANCE HOROOOOOOOON!!!

 

[Brandt]

What an odd criterion to play on voters.

"We don't join Eurovision. Aren't you gonna vote for us?"

"Oh, the government refuses to participate and they revolt against the rules!! We are the best with them!"

Could it be any more senseless?

 

[Mrm]

[MENTION=6700]Grinch[/MENTION] or somebody else from Turkey

Do you know maybe what is the dance from Kayseri and surrounding region, what folk dance is characteristic for that region??

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I hope Turkey can come back soon, they tended to send some really good songs.