President Katalin Novák told a press conference held with her Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on Wednesday that Hungarians helped the people of Turkey at the time of the earthquakes and will continue to help them in the coming period, too.
The president said the Hungarian Ecumenical Charity has sent donations of a total of 100 million forints (EUR 262,900) to Turkey, while Hungary is also sending 100 tons of medicines and medical equipment to earthquake-hit parts of the country. The talks between the two presidents touched upon the war in Ukraine, illegal migration, the enlargement of the European Union and NATO, as well as energy cooperation and demographic challenges, Novák said. Novák also said she and Erdoğan would jointly open a Turkey-Hungary cultural year in December, to mark the centenary of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Erdoğan said Turkey and Azerbaijan were prepared to give Hungary all the support it needed in terms of its gas supply. Concerning Turkish-Hungarian ties, he thanked Hungary for the support it provided in the search and rescue efforts following the earthquake, noting that the Hungarian teams rescued 35 people from the rubble. As regards the war, Erdoğan urged peace talks and an end to the conflict.