The latest lecture at the Free University of Ludovika covered the past one hundred years of the Hungarian–Turkish relations, as well as the role that Hungary plays in the Organization of Turkic States (OTS).
On April 11, the Free University of Ludovika continued its courses with a lecture entitled The Organization of Turkic States and Hungary. On the occasion of the proclamation of the Republic of Türkiye it was János Hóvári, the executive head of the Representation Office of OTS in Budapest that delivered a lecture in the course focusing on the relations between Hungary and Türkiye. Ambassador Hóvári emphasized that despite the fact that after WWII the two countries found themselves on opposing sides in the battle between the great powers, the friendship between our two countries has always endured.
The formation of the Republic of Türkiye is – as it is well-known – attached to the name of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Although the Ottoman Empire – just like the Austro–Hungarian Empire – lost WWI, under the leadership of Atatürk it fought a successful war that went on to save the ethnic borders of the young Turkish state. By proving that it was possible to overcome the Entente, the Turkish people offered an example to the Hungarians. The executive head of the Representation Office – who is also a Turkologist – underlined the fact that the Kingdom of Hungary was among the first countries to recognize the Republic of Türkiye, proclaimed on October 29, 1923. It was with Hungary that the newly born Turkish state concluded its first international treaty in Istanbul. The spirit of this treaty is valid even today. It has survived WWII, the Cold War that followed it, and with various posterior agreements it still constitutes the foundation of our relations.
The first official prime ministerial visit took place in 1930, and it was reciprocated by PM Gyula Gömbös in 1933. It was during this visit that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk urged the establishment of the new Institute of Hungarian Studies at the University of Ankara which was soon to be opened. János Hóvári pointed out that between WWI and WWII several famous people from Hungary paid visits to Türkiye. The ten-day journey of Béla Bartók in 1937 had a great significance. Between 1935–1940, Zsazsa Gábor – the famous Hungarian actress whose first husband was Turkish – was the darling of social life in Ankara.
On March 19, 1944, on the day that Hungary was invaded by Fascist Germany, Prime Minister Miklós Kállay was given refuge at the legation of Türkiye in Budapest. By this time, due to territorial disputes, Stalin was already hostile to Türkiye. So the country joined NATO in 1952, while Hungary became part of the Warsaw Treaty in 1955. During the détente in the Cold War – in 1970 – the first ever visit to Hungary by a Turkish Foreign Minister took place.
After the change in the political system in Hungary the official relations between Hungary and Türkiye were resolved, and in 1999 the two countries were already members of the same military alliance – NATO. The Hungarian – Turkish Council on Strategic Cooperation has been working since 2013, and since 2018 – at the invitation of the member states – our country has been an observer in the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, now the Organization of Turkic States.
Today the diplomacy of the two countries is working to confirm in December 2023 the first treaty on friendship signed 100 years ago with a document on enhanced strategic partnership between Hungary and Türkiye.
