Turkish Prime Minister rules out Eurovision return
Talking on a live TV show this evening, the Prime Minister of Turkey, Binali Yıldırım, spoke about Eurovision, about many other things. He answered several questions regarding Turkey's participation in Eurovision and also gave his opinions about this years contest in Lisbon.
Controversy over Israel's win:
During the TV show, the Prime Minister was asked about his thought's on this years contest, and in particular, about Israel's win. He went on to accuse the EBU of making changes that would ensure an Israeli win:
"For the first time, they allowed Israel to win the competition so that they can host it next year. They changed the voting method to ensure that this could happen. They planned everything so that it can be held in Jerusalem."
This year, the EBU did announce that there would be a small change to the way in which the jury scores are compiled. However, we can see that even without this change, Israel would have still won the contest.
Turkey's participation in Eurovision:
Turkey last took part in Eurovision in 2012 and In December of that year, Turkish broadcaster TRT announced that they would be withdrawing from the contest. They cited dissatisfaction with the rules, in particular, the changes to the voting system, that came into effect in 2009, and the presence of the Big 5, as their reasons for withdrawing from the contest.
Every year since then, Turkey have been asked if they would be returning to the contest, with every year their answer being no. And this year is no exception, with Binali Yıldırım reiterating that "Turkey has no plans to return to the contest".
You can watch the full TV interview below (although unfortunatley, there are no subtitles in at present):
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