Every Monday for the last few weeks, we have been looking back at former participating nations at the Eurovision Song Contest. This week, in our final #MondayMemories, we look back at Turkey, a country that competed 34 times – the last in 2012.

Turkey debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest back in 1975, when the Contest was held in Stockholm, Sweden. Semiha Yanki represented Turkey in 1975 with her entry “Seninle Bir Dakika”.

https://youtu.be/hF7yQ_d8rJg

Video: YouTube/Ismail Uzunoglu

While participating in the Contest, Turkey had chosen to sing predominately in Turkish. While Turkish was the main choice, we saw English used either partly or as a whole from 2000.

In 2003, Turkey took their first and only victory at the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2003, Sertab Erener took 1st place with “Everyday That I Can”.

Video: YouTube/lithuanian14

Turkey have not participated in the Eurovision Song Contest since they last entered in 2012, in Baku. TRT have yet to show an interest in returning, despite various rumours over the years.

#MondayMemories will return in September, when we look back at the countries that used to take part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

Author: Richard Taylor

Source: Eurovision Ireland