– How sad and unworthy of the century we live in.

Turkish student Begüm Bölükbasi (24) thinks so.

The country has not been seen in this competition since 2012.

Unfair system

When the government withdrew in 2013, they explained that it was about the voting system in the competition.

The minister in charge of public broadcaster TRT said they did not get the results they wanted, no matter how good the contestants they sent.

One of their reactions was that the “big five”: Germany, France, England, Spain and Italy, were guaranteed a place. This was a rule that was introduced because these five people contributed the most money to the competition.

Not everyone believes this explanation anymore.

– Conservatives don’t like it

– In the first years we believed what was said, but as time passes, most people now realize that there are other reasons behind it.

So said Bölükbasi, who is also a board member of the Turkish Eurovision site.

He believes this is due to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s conservative mindset which is incompatible with competitive values.

– Eurovision is an arena where there is respect for all gender identities, which is frowned upon by conservative forces in government.

The promise of Eurovision if they win

And now Eurovision has become big politics in Türkiye.

Opposition politicians Meral Akşener and Kemal Kiliçdaroglu both promised participation in Eurovision in their election campaigns against Erdoğan.

The time to make such an appointment was also very good.

Election day in Turkey is Sunday 14 May, the day after the Eurovision final in Liverpool.

– I think this could have an impact on younger children

Turkish peace expert and researcher Pinar Tank agrees with Bölükbasi students on the real reason why they are not participating now.

He believes this is a matter of conservative politics in the country.

– They explain this because of the voting system, but I think it has to do with the fact that the program has been a liberal, gender-neutral competition, says Tank, who is Norwegian-Turkish.

– And why this doesn’t go down well with ErdoGto his regime?

– You must be a strong male figure to lead Turkey and Eurovision to challenge these ideals. According to Erdogan, this is something they fear could impact the younger generation.

It’s not just Eurovision that the Turkish government is skeptical of.

Conservative forces in Turkey believe that the younger generation should be protected from the K-pop music genre, because of this can encourage homosexuality.

In addition, popular Turkish pop artist Gulsen should do it was placed under house arrest after he joked about religious schools in the country.

– Can be a powerful political tool

The peace researcher believes that using popular culture as politics can be effective, especially with young voters.

– It is clear that there are other things more important than Eurovision at the moment, but we should not ignore the fact that popular culture can be a powerful political tool towards young people.

However, he does not believe that the promise of participation will be decisive, but it can be used as an example that such an offer does not exist in Turkey at the moment.

– Türkiye is gone

Anders Tangen is a writer at ESC Norway and runs the “Grand Prix podcast”. He said that Türkiye lost at Eurovision.

– Türkiye has a kind of cult status in the context of Eurovision. “I think many people have a close connection to the memories of the Turkish groups in white coats and belly dancers who performed in the past,” Tangen said.

Watch Turkey’s victory in 2003 with the song “Everyway That I Can”:

Bölükbasi at Eurovision Türkiye wants to see Türkiye compete again. He is proud of Turkish culture and believes that participation will be important for the younger generation of Turks.

– Many of the country’s young generation took part in the competition. We want to showcase our artists and culture, Bölükbasi said.