On December 18, 2024 Professor Dr. István Vásáry was awarded the International Grand Prize of the Turkish Academy of Sciences. The prize was handed over by the President of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Executive Head of the Representation Office of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Budapest was posted to Istanbul as a Consul General (1990–1991), and then to Ankara as an Ambassador (1991–1995). From 1996 he was working as a professor at the Desk of Turkology of Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE). Between 2005 and 2010 he was the Head of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Faculty of Arts of ELTE. In 2019 he became a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His field of research covers Turkic philology and history, with a special emphasis on the Turkic elements in the history of Central Eastern Europe.
Professor István Vásáry received the International Grand Prize of the Turkish Academy of Sciences in the Bestepe National Congressional and Cultural Center.
