Turkey was “very close” to making a sensational return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2017, The Euro Trip has learned. 

The country has made 34 appearances in the contest to-date, winning in 2003, and appearing for the last time in 2012 before withdrawing. 

Click to read this story at a glance…

• Turkey was on the verge of returning to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2017, with talks occurring between the Turkish broadcaster TRT and the EBU
• Turkey has participated in Eurovision 34 times, but withdrew in 2012 due to dissatisfaction with the contest’s voting rules, particularly the 50/50 split
• TRT has not been involved in Eurovision since 2012, having pulled out of the 2013 broadcast, reportedly due to concerns over low ratings and controversy surrounding a same-sex kiss

This new revelation about a return comes from Paul Jordan who, between 2015 and 2018, worked as the Digital Communications Manager at Scrn, the company previously outsourced to run some Eurovision brand services. 

Speaking exclusively to The Euro Trip, Jordan said: “In 2017 they [the EBU] were very close to having Turkey come back. 

“They were in talks with the Turkish broadcaster, and it fell apart. 

“There was an eagerness for a time for them to return. Maybe the door isn’t shut.” 

Turkish broadcaster TRT withdrew from the contest in December 2012, dissatisfied with the voting rules. 

TRT was unhappy with the result of the contest being determined by a 50/50 split between the public televote and professional national juries, after multiple editions of the competition had been decided solely by viewers at home. 

When the 50/50 voting format was implemented fully in the contest for all three shows in 2010, Turkey came second overall. Televoters placed We Could Be The Same second, while juries ranked it lower in eighth. 

Turkey failed to qualify for a Grand Final for the first time ever in 2011, but even a 100% televote Semi Final would not have seen the country make the Saturday live show. 

However, in 2012, Can Bonomo’s Love Me Back suffered a big voting discrepancy; it was ranked just 22nd by jurors, and fourth by televoters. 

Expanding on how close the EBU got to securing a Turkish return in 2017, Jordan said: “They got so close that Jon Ola Sand was engaging in talks with the broadcaster, so it could have very nearly happened. 

“Then time went on… I don’t know if they changed their mind, or they ran out of time, or if there was an embargo from the government. 

“There was definitely a desire from the broadcaster and from the EBU to make this happen, and it nearly did happen. 

“It would have been a great surprise, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.” 

TRT has had no involvement in Eurovision since it withdrew from the contest at the back end of 2012. 

The broadcaster was due to televise the 2013 edition, but it pulled out at the eleventh hour, citing probable low ratings. 

Some media instead reported that TRT boycotted its planned broadcast of the contest due to a same-sex kiss between Finland’s entrant Krista Siegfrids and one of her backing vocalists during the performance of Marry Me. 

TRT has not broadcast any edition of Eurovision since.