Former Hungarian Ambassador Janos Hovari, executive director of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) European Representation Office, said on Monday that there is very good cooperation between Hungary and OTS member countries and this will become even stronger in the future.

Hovari provided his evaluations to the Anadolu Agency (AA) regarding the relations between the OTS and Hungary and the work of the representative office. Stating that the Hungarian Prime Minister was invited to the OTS Summit for the first time in 2018, Hovari said that the idea of Hungary being an observer member came to the fore at this summit for the first time.

"The Hungarian prime minister regarded this invitation (observer membership) as an honor and accepted it gladly. The prime minister promised that the European Representation Office will be opened in Budapest where the diplomats of all member states will be located and Hungary will take an active part in this very important international cooperation. Hungary has fulfilled all its promises. The Representative Office has been operating in a very beautiful building in Budapest since 2019," Hovari said.

Hovari also made evaluations of the bilateral relations between Türkiye and Hungary.

"In the last four years, there have been many developments in the relations between Hungary and Türkiye. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we have become much closer to each other. Incredible cooperation has occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since no one expects a situation like the COVID-19 epidemic, we also have our textile stock. As Hungary, we bought the medical masks we needed from the Turkic world. If I remember correctly, we first bought it from Uzbekistan, then Türkiye sent the necessary textiles for the mask. We also received help from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. After obtaining many COVID-19 vaccines, we sent them vaccines," Hovari outlined.

Pointing out that Türkiye is also in an important geographical position, Hovari explained: "Türkiye is also an important country due to its relations with the Black Sea and Russia. The energy event concerns all the countries in the region and Central Europe because we have access to Azerbaijani and Russian gas through Türkiye. The construction and development of these is a very important task."

The Organization of Turkic States (OTS), then known as the Turkic Council, was established in October 2009 after Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan signed the Nakhchivan Agreement. Uzbekistan finalized its accession to the organization during the seventh summit of the Turkic Council on Oct. 15, 2019, in Baku. Hungary and Turkmenistan are observer states.

In previous days, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Türkiye is the only country that has achieved results from its efforts to mediate between Russia and Ukraine.

"If we put it in a realistic approach, it is obvious that it has only been Türkiye, so far, who was successful when it comes to mediation attempts," Szijjarto said.

Hungary supports the Turkish peace effort amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War, including by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, said Szijjarto, who was attending the Russian Energy Week International Forum in Moscow, an event on the prospects of the Russian fuel and energy industry, as well as international cooperation.

He also pointed to the July deal that opened the way for Ukrainian grain exports amid the war with Russia, noting that this initiative prevailed under Turkish mediation.

Türkiye, the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul on July 22 to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which paused after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February.

Touching on his meeting with Çavuşoğlu during the 77th session of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, Szijjarto said, "I have asked him (Çavuşoğlu) to continue the mediation efforts."

"Because we are living in the neighborhood of the war. We want peace. Peace comes only with negotiations," he added.

Szijjarto expressed hope that talks between Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin would also bear fruit and pave the way to peace, adding, "We, Hungarians want peace."

Türkiye and Hungary enjoy friendly relations based on historical and cultural ties, the NATO alliance, close cooperation within international organizations, especially the European Union and the Council of Europe, and Hungary’s support of Türkiye’s EU membership. Relations between the countries have been intensified in all areas through frequent high-level visits and various consultation mechanisms.

Direct investments from Hungary to Turkey during 2002-2018 amounted to $29 million. Turkish direct investments in Hungary in the same period have been $58 million.

With a 55% increase with respect to the previous year, approximately 124,000 Hungarian tourists visited Türkiye in 2018.

Hungary follows an economy/trade-focused foreign policy and considers Türkiye as one of the key countries in its "Opening to the East" policy. Hungary opened a trade house in Istanbul in December 2013. Other than similar offices in various cities, Hungarian Eximbank also opened an office in Istanbul in 2015. The bilateral trade volume between the two countries increased from $1.8 billion in 2013 to $2.5 billion in 2018 – with Turkish exports of $1.2 billion and imports of $1.4 billion. Both sides agreed on increasing the trade volume to $5 billion.