No points from Erdogan. Turkey's leader claims Eurovision Song Contest is a threat to family values
The Turkish president has criticized the Eurovision Song Contest, accusing the annual event of allegedly encouraging “gender neutralization” and threatening the traditional family
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s president took a swipe at the Eurovision Song Contest on Monday, accusing the annual event of allegedly encouraging “gender neutralization” and threatening the traditional family.
In a speech following a Cabinet meeting, Recep Tayyip Erdogan described participants at the contest as the “Trojan horses of social corruption” and said his government was right to keep Turkey out of the pan-European pop competition since 2012.
It was an apparent reference to Swiss singer Nemo who won the 68th Eurovision Song Contest earlier this month with “The Code,” an operatic pop-rap ode to the singer’s journey toward embracing a nongender identity. The 24-year-old singer became the first nonbinary winner of the contest that has long been embraced as a safe haven by the LGBTQ community.
“At such events, it has become impossible to meet a normal person,” claimed Erdogan, whose ruling Justice and Development Party finds its roots in Turkey’s Islamic movement and whose government has grown less tolerant of LGBTQ rights in recent years.
