President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan left for Budapest Sunday for a one-day trip. Accompanied by a delegation of ministers, Erdoğan will attend Hungary's founding day celebrations and watch events at World Athletics Championships hosted by Hungary and attended by Turkish athletes. Erdoğan is among the guests of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a close friend at the helm of Türkiye's major ally in Europe.
Erdoğan and Orban met in the capital Budapest for talks. During the closed-door meeting, they discussed all aspects of bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues.
Erdoğan is also expected to hold sideline talks with other counterparts, including Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who will participate in the celebrations and events. The Emir of Qatar and the presidents of Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, as well as top officials from Bosnia-Herzegovina, were also expected to attend the celebrations and events.
Relations between Türkiye and Hungary were elevated to the level of strategic partnership in 2013 after the establishment of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council. The friendly ties have gained momentum in every field in recent years.
Erdoğan is accompanied by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar, Youth and Sports Minister Osman Aşkın Bak, Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Minister of Commerce Ömer Bolat, head of Presidency's Communications Directorate Fahrettin Altun and president's chief adviser Akif Çağatay Kılıç.
In an interview Friday with state radio, Orban described the leaders invited as Hungary's “political friends,” and said the athletics championships would provide a forum for the bilateral meetings and talks with business people from around the world, including China. “If there's a big world event, then the given country invites its friends,” Orban said Friday, adding that such events are “a more or less covert series of diplomatic meetings.”
