| Year: | 1997 |
| Country: | Turkey |
| Preselection: | 20. Eurovision Şarkı Yarışması Türkiye Finali |
| Preselection Date: | 1 March 1997 |
| Entrant: | Şebnem Paker |
| Song: | Dinle |
| Final Result: | 3rd, 121 points |
Turkey took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997. The country was represented by Şebnem Paker and Grup Etnic with the song "Dinle" written by Mehtap Altıntemiz and composed by Levent Çoker. Both Şebnem Paker and Levent Çoker had represented Turkey in the contest of the preceding year.
The final took place on 1 March 1997 at the TRT Studios in Ankara, hosted by Bülent Özveren and Meltem Ersan. Ten songs competed, and the winner was determined by an expert jury. Songs #1, 3, 4, 5 and 8 were performed by the use of backing tracks; however, they were still backed by the orchestra with their respective conductors. Songs #6, 9 and 10 were played live, while songs #2 and 7 used full playback. Ümit Eroğlu was the chief conductor in this preselection. His orchestra consisted of 49 musicians.[1] [2]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Lyricist | Composer | Conductor | Points | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burcu Güneş | "Gece" | Günay Çoban | Müfit Bayraşa | Ümit Eroğlu | 0 | 7 | |
| 2 | Serdar Aydemir | "Aşkıma İnan" | Hakan Süersan | Hakan Süersan | n/a | 0 | 7 | |
| 3 | Şebnem Özsaran | "Dördüncü Boyut" | Semih Güneri | Semih Güneri | Semih Güneri | 1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Şebnem Paker & Group Ethnic (Ahmet Koç, Ali Koç, Ercan Irmak, Eylem Pelit, Süleyman Alnıtemiz) | "Dinle" | Mehtap Alnıtemiz | Levent Çoker | Levent Çoker | 10 | 1 | |
| 5 | Sevan Deniz | "Hiç Gitme" | Sevan Deniz | Sevan Deniz | Güneş Apaydın | 0 | 7 | |
| 6 | Tüzmen & Elçin Engin | "Şarkı" | Hale Turan | Şansal Engin | Ümit Eroğlu | 0 | 7 | |
| 7 | Tuba Önal | "Sevda Bu Dostun" | Selma Çuhacı | Müfit Bayraşa | n/a | 0 | 7 | |
| 8 | Erdal Çelik | "Seninle" | Erdal Çelik | Erdal Çelik | Mete Aydın Çelik | 0 | 7 | |
| 9 | Pınar Ayhan & Grup S.O.S. (Sühan Ayhan, Orkun Yazgan, Selim Öncel) | "Sen Nerede Ben Orada" | Selma Çuhacı | Erdinç Tunç | Ümit Eroğlu | 3 | 2 | |
| 10 | Ece Sandallı | "Sevda" | Çetin Akcan | Ece Sandallı | Serdar Kalafatoğlu | 0 | 7 |
Heading into the final of the contest, RTÉ reported that bookmakers ranked the entry 25th (last) out of the 25 entries.[3] On the night of the contest Şebnem performed 2nd in the running order, following Cyprus and preceding Norway. At the close of the voting, Dinle had received 121 points placing Turkey 3rd.[4] This was the best result Turkey had ever reached at the contest up to that time, and will remain so until their victory in 2003. 18 participants voted for Dinle. The Turkish jury awarded its 12 points to Malta.[5]