Complex sentence: Various news sources had reported there were several non-governmental organizations that were cooperating to persuade the Turkish to return to the contest in 2017; It was announced on 23 October that the NTU General Director stated that TRT refused to participate.
Split into simpler sentences: Various news sources had reported there were several non-governmental organizations that were cooperating to persuade the Turkish to return to the contest in 2017. However, it was announced on 23 October that the NTU General Director stated that TRT refused to participate.