The winner of‘Eurovision 2024 Nemo and his nonbinarism end up in the sights of Türkiye and in particular of the president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. As reported The Guardian, Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan described contest participants as “Trojan horses of social corruption” and said his government was right to keep Turkey out of the pan-European pop competition since 2012.
The pageant promotes gender neutrality and undermines traditional family values. At these events it became impossible to meet a normal person. We therefore understand better that we have made the right decision by keeping Turkey out of this shameful competition for the last 12 years
Withdrew after the excellent seventh place of Can Bonomo with “Love me back”, Turkey had previously criticized both the victory of Conchita Wurst in 2014 than that of Net for Israel in 2018
Regarding the bearded drag queen who triumphed with “Rise like a phoenix”, he had expressed himself several times and in different contexts – personally or even through members of his Government with strongly homophobic phrases. The then director of TV, a direct emanation of the Turkish state, had stated in particular:
We are a public TV station and we cannot broadcast a show where there is a bearded Austrian winner, wearing a skirt, who accepts the absence of gender and says “I am a woman and a man”, at 9pm, when there are children in front On TV. I told Ebu that she is breaking away from her values
Erdogan he had made things worse, saying that the event was taking too “liberal” a direction. From the detachment, the Turkvision Song Contest will originate in 2013, organized by a private TV with the support of the International Institute for Turkish Culture, officially to bring together Turkic populations – including minorities – around the world in music, but also to take distances from the event. The competition, after a few editions, is now stopped.
Regarding the victory of Net in 2018, his government ministers defined it as “planned to bring the competition to Jerusalem”. Then, as is known, the event took place in Tel Aviv instead.
Türkiye: the eternal struggle to return to Eurovision
EBU is still working to try to get Turkey back into the competition, which will not be an easy task until then Erdogan he will remain in office, therefore until the end of his mandate, at the end of which he will not stand for re-election. But cyclically, every time there is talk of unblocking the negotiations for the country’s entry into the EU, stuck at the request status of 1999 after the numerous steps backwards on the front of civil rights and individual liberties, the Government also returns to talking about possible return to Eurovision “to bring our culture”.
Eurovision has also recently been an election campaign topic in Türkiye. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, former leader of the Kemalist Party Erdogan’s main opposition had criticized his choice to withdraw Turkey from the competition. Speaking to a group of university students he had in fact said:
By participating in international competitions and winning prizes, Turkish artists become famous and make Turkey known throughout the world: this is called soft power in foreign policy. You withdraw from Eurovision. Why are you retiring? This is entirely due to fear of art and culture
Criticism of Russia
On the same issues of gender identity but also on the presence of Bambie Thug with his performance that refers to witchcraft, the statement on Telegram by Maria Zakahrova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, could not be missing:
Eurovision 2024 surpassed any orgy or ritual sacrilege in Western Europe as usual. The Western European funeral is going smoothly. There are no surprises. It is also not surprising that with its “scandalous production”, Ukraine took a podium at the aforementioned song competition.
In support of this statement, again on her Telegram channel, Zakharova also published a short clip showing the performances of Ireland, Finland, San Marino, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Spain, Switzerland, Estonia and Croatia.
