Turkish Eurovision presenter dies at 79

ISTANBUL

Bülent Özveren, a prominent Turkish TV presenter, mostly known for presenting Eurovision music contests with the national broadcaster TRT between 1975 and 2012, has lost his life at the age of 79.

The news of his death was announced by his wife, Sebla Özveren, in a tweet late on Oct. 17, saying, “Unfortunately, we lost him.”

Suffering from kidney failure, Özveren was hospitalized on Sept. 12 and under treatment since then.

Born in 1943 in Istanbul, Özveren was a graduate of Istanbul University’s Law Faculty.

Joining TRT in 1965, he presented various entertainment and sports shows, but he was mostly famous for presenting all the Eurovision contests on TRT for 37 years.

Alleging that the participant countries vote songs “politically,” not “musically,” Türkiye has not attended the Eurovision contests since 2012.