Beauty contest
Not “beautiful” enough? Newly crowned Miss Türkiye receives hate

Critics suspect nepotism behind the awarding of the title Miss World Türkiye. (Symbolic image) Photo
© picture alliance / dpa
Turkey has a new beauty queen. But the newly elected Miss Turkey is facing a lot of hostility. She criticizes a false understanding of beauty in the country.
The 24-year-old doctor beat 19 other finalists in Istanbul last week, the Miss World Association announced. She will represent Turkey in the upcoming beauty pageant for the title of Miss World.
The 1.80 meter tall participant convinced the jury with her final speech and with the sentence: “I am a doctor, but I am also a Turkish woman, so I want to be the voice of women at Miss World.” Critics, however, accused her of having received the title because of her family background. Her father is currently the Turkish ambassador in Kiev.
In a Turkish talk show, Bilgen criticized the fact that beauty is only viewed superficially in Turkey. The competition is also about other things, such as intelligence.