Turkey was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 with the song "Unutamazsın", composed by Erdinç Tunç, with lyrics by Canan Tunç, and performed by Tüzmen. The Turkish participating broadcaster, Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu (TRT), selected its entry through a national final.
The final took place on 28 February 1998 at the TRT Studios in Ankara, hosted by Bülend Özveren and Ekin Olcayto. Ten songs competed and the winner was determined by an expert jury. One of the contestants, Şebnem Paker and her group, had performed in Eurovision Song Contest 1997 and had received the highest points for Turkey up to 1997, but in 1998 they couldn't repeat their previous success.[1][2]
Heading into the final of the contest, BBC reported that bookmakers ranked the entry joint 25th (last) out of the 25 entries.[3] On the night of the contest Tüzmen performed 24th in the running order, following Estonia and preceding Macedonia. At the close of the voting, Unutamazsın had received 25 points, placing Turkey 14th out of 25 contestants.[4] Only five participants had voted for Unutamazsın. The Turkish jury awarded its 12 points to the United Kingdom.[5]
