László Kövér, the Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary received Sultan Raev, the Secretary General of TÜRKSOY who was paying an official visit to Hungary on the occasion of the unveiling of the statue of the famous Kyrgyz bard, Sayakbay Karalayev in Lakitelek. After the above ceremony Speaker Kövér, Deputy Speaker Sándor Lezsák and Suyunbek Kasmambetov, the State Secretary of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan exchanged their views on the cultural cooperation between the two countries.
During his visit to Hungary the Secretary General of TÜRKSOY was also received by Péter Hoppál, the ministerial commissioner of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation who extended an invitation to TÜRKSOY to the celebrations on December 18, 2023 of the 100th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Republic of Turkey. The meeting between Péter Hoppál and Sultan Raev was also attended by Taalaibek Kydyrov, the acting director of the Representation Office in Hungary of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS). The Sides exchanged their views on the further development of the relations between Hungary and TÜRKSOY, as well as the future strengthening of the bilateral relations. Secretary General Raev arrived in Hungary for the ceremony of unveiling the statue of the famous Kyrgyz bard, Sayakbay Karalayev in Lakitelek, and for the Camp of Artists in Lakitelek with the participation of painters from the Turkic world. The latter event was dedicated to the memory of Sándor Petőfi.
During their talks, the Sides highly appreciated the progress made recently in the bilateral relations, and took a stand for further strengthening it. Péter Hoppál asked TÜRKSOY to play an active role in organizing the events of the Hungarian – Turkish Cultural Year in 2024. Sultan Raev stressed that the events organized on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Sándor Petőfi play an important role in bringing the artists and the intellectuals of Hungary and those of the Turkic world closer to each other. The creative artists of the brotherly Hungarian people are well known in the Turkic world. “Sándor Petőfi is a poet whom I have known since I was a schoolboy,” – stated the Secretary General of TÜRKSOY. Sultan Raev also pointed out that the organizing of the monumental concert in Budapest to mark the 30th anniversary of establishing TÜRKSOY is in full swing. At the same time, he expressed his hope that Hungary – given the strong bilateral relations – will remain an active partner of TÜRKSOY in the future too.
