A workshop in Budapest — attended by Turkish and Hungarian diplomats, academics, and journalists — highlighted the need to forge strong connections between relevant media and civic institutions to further strengthen the already exemplary bilateral diplomatic relations.
The workshop took place on Nov. 11 as the second phase of the “Türkiye-Hungary Media Bridges” project, conducted jointly by Türkiye's Communications Directorate and the Foundation for a Civic Hungary (PMA).
It featured two panels: “The Future of Media – Trust, Truth, Technology” and “Strategic Partnership in a Fragmented World.”
The opening remarks were delivered by Türkiye’s Ambassador to Budapest Gülşen Karanis Ekşioğlu and PMA’s Director of Foreign Affairs Veisz Marton. Deputy head of the Communications Directorate, Professor Ferhat Pirinççi, and Hungary’s state secretary for security policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Peter Sztaray, also welcomed the participants.
In her opening remarks, Ekşioğlu described the Türkiye-Hungary Media Bridges project as not only a venue to bring the two countries’ media together but also a permanent platform for wider dialogue.
“As I have expressed on different platforms before, we define Hungary as our distant kin bound to us by ancestral ties extending to Central Asia, our close neighbor in the context of issues on our agenda, even though we do not share a common border and our traditional partner,” the ambassador said.
‘Europe-Asia axis’
She also underlined that growing media exchanges and people-to-people bonds between the two nations “do not contribute greatly to the Turkish-Hungarian bilateral relations but also to the establishment of peace, stability and mutual understanding on the Europe-Asia axis.”
For his part, Pirinççi stated that relations between Türkiye and Hungary carry not only bilateral aspects but also regional and global dimensions. Emphasizing that the friendship between the two countries is based not only on “deep inter-state diplomacy” but also on profound cultural ties between their peoples, he said this centuries-old shared past has now evolved into a strong foundation that makes the two countries strategic partners.
The deputy communications head also emphasized the growing role of the media’s responsibility given recent global developments, stressing, “Today, information spreads rapidly; however, accuracy unfortunately does not advance at the same pace. Disinformation has become a threat to societies, inter-state relations, and even regional stability. Therefore, every step taken in the field of media ultimately serves to safeguard democracy, peace, and human dignity.”
‘Türkiye very important for Hungary’
He also reiterated Türkiye’s determination to further strengthen ties with Hungary by benefiting from leader-to-leader diplomacy pursued by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
For his part, Sztaray emphasized that Türkiye holds a very important place for Hungary, saying, “The common origins and kinship relations of the two countries form the basis of today's cooperation.”
Sztaray recalled that the two sides have agreed to increase the trade volume to $6 billion from the current $4.5 billion, expressing his expectation that this will soon be achieved within the framework of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council.
