Bashkortostan in the Turkvision Song Contest

Bashkortostan made their debut in the Turkvision Song Contest 2013 festival, in Eskişehir, Turkey.[1] The Bashkir broadcaster Kuray Television organised the entry selection, which took place on 16 November 2013.[2] A total of 17 singers participated in the national selection.[3] The national final was however disrupted due to a fire breaking out at the venue during the show, "The Lights of Ufa" with approximately 1,000 in attendance were evacuated to safety. As a result, the national final was rescheduled to a later date.[4]

The national selection was rescheduled for 5 December 2013, 17 artists participated, with Diana Ishniyazova being selected to represent Bashkortostan.[5] At the semi final of Turkvizyon 2013 on 19 December, Bashkortostan performed third however they did not qualify for the final of the competition.

On 20 July 2014 it was announced that Bashkortostan would make their second appearance at the Turkvision Song Contest 2014 to be held in Kazan, Tatarstan in November 2014.[6] On 9 October 2014 the Bashkir broadcaster made a call for submissions for the contest.[7] A total of 10 submissions were received by the broadcaster for the contest, 9 singers were selected to go through to the final on 30 October 2014.[8] The winner of the Bashkir national selection was decided by a jury. The group Zaman won the selection process with their song "Kubair", they were selected by a 9-person jury.[9] In Kazan Bashkortostan performed 17th in the semi final scoring a total of 193 points and coming 4th, they then performed 6th in the final and finished in 3rd with a total of 199 points.

On 16 June 2015 Bashkortostan confirmed that they would participate in Turkvision 2015.[10] The selection process for Bashkortostan was announced on 13 October 2015, the channel in charge of the Bashkir participation changed from Kuray Television to Tugan Tel TV.[11] The selection final was announced on 14 October 2015 as taking place at the Bashkortostan State Concert Hall on 11 November 2015, in which eight singers were selected to compete.[12] Zilija Bahtieva was selected by a professional jury to represent Bashkortostan in Istanbul.[13] On 20 November 2015 Bashkortostan withdrew from Turkvision 2015, as they were instructed by the Russian Government not to compete in the contest due to the relations between Turkey and Russia at that present time.[14]

On 2 November 2016 Zilija Bahtieva confirmed that she would represent Bashkortostan at the Turkvision Song Contest 2016. She confirmed that she would not perform the song that she won the regions 2015 selection with.[15] On 25 November 2016 Zilija revealed that she would perform "Donya Mathur".[16]