Turkey’s president takes bizarre swipe at Eurovision in speech about declining birth rates

Turkey’s State Statistical Institute announced the country’s birth rate in 2023 had dropped to 1.51 children per woman

Swiss singer Nemo representing Switzerland with the song ‘The Code’ (AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey’s president has taken a bizarre swipe at the Eurovision Song Contest, accusing it 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.

“We understand better how we made the right decision by keeping Turkey out of this disgraceful competition for the past 12 years,” he said.

Nemo of Switzerland, who won with the song The Code (AP) (AP)

Erdogan on Monday also decried a serious decline in birth rates in Turkey as an “existential threat” and a “disaster” for the country.

Last week, Turkey’s State Statistical Institute announced that the country’s birth rate in 2023 had dropped to 1.51 children per woman.

The Turkish leader has long called on families to have at least three children.

Following the win Switzerland’s Nemo Mettler, the first non-binary person to win the Eurovision Song Contest, has called on their home country to recognise a third gender.

After triumphing with their song “The Code” at the competition’s final, Nemo was outspoken about the ways in which the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) needs to “fix” problems within the competition.

Turkey Erdogan Eurovision

The musician, 24, has also called for a change in their home country, asking that Swiss authorities allow non-binary designations on official documents.

“In Switzerland, there’s no entry for third gender. And I think that’s absolutely unacceptable,” Nemo told reporters after they were crowned winner, reports The Guardian. “We need to change that.”

Outside the Malmo Arena in Sweden, where this year’s event was held, pro-Palestine activists were filmed chanting “shame on you” to fans as they entered the venue to watch the final take place. Climate activist Greta Thunberg was filmed being removed from the area by Swedish police, after joining the stop Israel march while wearing a Keffiyeh scarf.