At the invitation of Ambassador Dr. János Hóvári, the Head of the Representative Office of the Turkic Council in Budapest, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly paid – in the framework of a working lunch – a visit to the Ybl Villa, the seat of the organization in Budakeszi út. The event was also a kind of “away from home” session of the Foreign Affairs Committee in order to be informed about the activities of the Turkic Council and its mission in Budapest.
Welcoming the guests from the Parliament, János Hóvári recalled that the Turkic Council had admitted Hungary as an observer three years ago. The Office in Budapest, to which the five full member states delegated one diplomat each, was opened one and a half years ago.
On behalf of the guests, Zsolt Németh, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament thanked Ambassador Hóvári for the invitation. He emphasized that one of the important objectives of Hungarian foreign policy is to strengthen the ties with the member states of the Turkic Council. He added that not long ago the Committee had paid a visit to Turkey where the role that Hungary is playing in deepening the cooperation with the countries speaking Turkic languages is highly appreciated.
During the working lunch the participants covered economic, trade, education and cultural issues as well. It was pointed out that there are figures that reflect the results of the cooperation with the Turkic world. Although last year the volume of world trade decreased by nine percent, the trade of Hungary with the member states of the Turkic Council increased by three per cent. The export of Hungary to the region is significantly greater than its import. This year five thousand young people from these countries applied for a scholarship in Hungary, and several universities in Hungary signed agreements on cooperation with various institutes of education in the region. The easing off of the pandemic will, hopefully, offer Budapest opportunities to become the venue of several events on the economy that had had to be postponed.
Zsolt Németh emphasized that the Foreign Affairs Committee will pay attention to the work of the Representative Office in Budapest in the future too. Should the need arise, it will assist its diplomatic activities and communication. He raised the necessity of organizing a meeting of the Chairman of the Hungarian Foreign Affairs Committee and those of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the member countries so that they could launch a new process.
