Turkiet fortsätter bojkott av ESC: Opassande för barn

Turkey has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 34 times since making its debut in 1975. Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, the only year that Turkey participated and failed to advance to the final was in 2011. Turkey has won the contest once, in 2003 and hosted the 2004 contest in Istanbul. Turkey finished last on its debut at the contest in 1975, went on to finish last with "nul points" in 1983 and 1987, and only reached the top ten in one of its first 18 attempts at the contest between 1975 and 1996 (1986), before Sebnem Paker achieved the country's first top five result in 1997, finishing third with "Dinle". Turkey would go on to achieve five more top five placements after the introduction of the free language rule and tele-voting, with Sertab Erener giving Turkey its first victory at the 2003 contest with the song "Everyway That I Can", narrowly defeating Belgium by two points. Turkey's other top five results are Athena (2004), Kenan Doğulu (2007), Hadise (2009), who all finished fourth, and the nu metal band maNga (2010), who finished second. TRT announced in December 2012 that they would not attend the 2013 contest in Malmö, citing dissatisfaction with the rules of the competition. 2013 was the first time since the 1973 contest that there was no television broadcast on TRT. In September 2013, TRT stated a return is unlikely for the 2014 competition, citing the same reasons. As of 2018, Turkey has yet to return to the contest.