First Conchita Wurst, now Nemo: Turkish President calls Eurovision a threat to the traditional family

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized the Eurovision Song Contest. According to the politician, the event encourages "gender neutralization" and threatens the concept of the traditional family.

This was reported by The Guardian. In a speech after a Cabinet meeting, Erdogan called the contestants "Trojan horses of social corruption" and said that his government was right to exclude Turkey from the European pop contest back in 2012.

The words of the country's president were obviously related to this year's Eurovision Song Contest winners, the Swiss performers Nemo, who position themselves as non-binary. The triumph of the artists was good news for the LGBTQ+ community.

"It's impossible to meet a normal person at such events," Erdogan, whose Justice and Development Party intertwines with Turkey's Islamic movement and whose government is becoming less and less tolerant of queer rights, said.

"We are all well aware of the right decision we made in keeping Turkey from being embarassing itself at Eurovision during these 12 years," he said.

Singer Buket Bengisu, who represented the country in 2002, commented on the politician's words, expressing her indignation. "The Eurovision Song Contest is very important for promoting countries. You promote yourself and your country the way you want. Stop separating people," she wrote on her Instagram page.

As you know, Turkey made its debut at the song contest in 1975. Since then, Turkish representatives have appeared on the Eurovision stage 34 times. The best result for the country was brought by pop singer Sertab Erener in 2003 when she took first place with the song "Everyway That I Can".

However, in 2012, the local broadcaster TRT officially announced that Turkey would no longer participate in the song contest. The reason for the decision was disagreement with the rules, including dissatisfaction with the voting system and the status of the "Big Five" countries, which automatically qualify for the final.

Other data indicate that the Turkish authorities were outraged by the victory of the Austrian contestant Conchita Wurst in 2014. The singer came on stage in a dress and with a dark beard.

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