TV boss: Turkey won't return to Eurovision while gay drag stars can still win

[Behind the Aegis]

Turkey's state broadcaster has said it will not take part in the Eurovision song contest while "someone like the bearded Austrian who wore a skirt" could win the competition, referring to 2014's winner, the gay drag artist Conchita Wurst.

Turkey has not taken part in the contest since 2012, which featured the country's Can Bonomo singing Love Me Back, after it criticised the newly introduced voting system, which it said was unfair.

Speaking during a panel discussion at Ibn Haldun University in Istanbul on Saturday, Ibrahim Eren, the general manager of the state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), said that the contest was not suitable for children, and he also criticised the voting system.

"We don't consider to rejoin the contest. We have reasons like the voting system. As a public broadcaster, we also cannot broadcast live at 9pm - when children are still awake - someone like the bearded Austrian who wore a skirt, do not believe in genders and says that he is both a man and a woman," Eren said.

Wurst's victory in 2014, with the song Rise Like a Phoenix, provoked controversy from a number of countries due to the singer's sexuality. Wurst's birth name is Thomas Neuwirth.

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[RockRaven]

1. Bye, Felicia

Nobody cares if you sit in the corner and pout, Turkey.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. It's a minor point, but it doesn't even begin at 9pm Turkish time - it's 10pm

ie 8pm British (both use daylight savings, as does most of Europe). Fairly pathetic for him to use children as his excuse.

[mwooldri]

3. Eurovision was never meant to be political, but politics gets mired in it every time.

For the Middle East EBU members... Israel partaking is a problem. It is to Tunisia, who won't compete if Israel does. I'm not sure about Egypt or Algeria, but this may be true for them.

Then there's the voting. Why does Greece nearly always give Cyprus its 12 points and vice-versa?

[msongs]

4. good news, less competition from non european countries nt

[Matthew28]

5. relgion is a sickness

A real threat to human rights