Opening of the Zrinyi-Szigetvar 1566 Memorial Year – Leaders of Hungary, Turkey, Croatia to mark 450th anniversary of Szigetvar siege

Budapest, January 8 (MTI) – The presidents of Hungary, Turkey and Croatia are expected to meet in Szigetvar, in south-west Hungary, on September 7 to mark the 450th anniversary of Hungarian-Croatian nobleman Miklos Zrinyi and his outnumbered army’s heroic defence of the town’s fortress against the advancing Ottoman army, Janos Hovari, president of the Miklos Zrinyi Memorial Committee, said at Friday’s opening of the Zrinyi-Szigetvar 1566 Memorial Year.

Gordan Grlic-Radman, Croatia’s ambassador to Hungary, said President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic will be the chief patron of the memorial year as requested by her Hungarian counterpart, Janos Ader.

The ambassador expressed hope that the meeting between Ader, Grabar-Kitarovic and Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be but one of the multiple highlights of the memorial year and that Hungarians would once again get to see Croatian composer Ivan Zajc’s opera retelling the battle of Szigetvar, Nikola Subic Zrinski.

Grlic-Radman said Hungarian and Croatian filmmakers will cooperate in producing a documentary about the battle, which is set to be released at the end of the year.

The various events commemorating 1566 will begin on February 13 in Szigetvar with a history conference, literature competition, gastronomic exhibitions and musical performances.

Photo: www.pecsma.hu

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters