Hungary to contribute to Türkiye’s post-quake reconstruction

Hungary has offered to finance the reconstruction of an orthodox church and a cultural centre in Türkiye following last month’s earthquake, and will help rebuild a hospital destroyed in the disaster, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Monday.

Addressing an international donors’ conference in Brussels to support the victims of the Türkiye-Syria earthquake, Szijjarto said Hungary will cover the costs of rebuilding the Syriac Orthodox Church’s St. Peter and St. Paul Church in Adiyaman.

The Hungarian government will also finance the reconstruction of a cultural centre in Osmaniye, which houses a permanent exhibition focused on Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, a ministry statement cited Szijjártó as saying.

In addition, Hungary will contribute to the reconstruction of a hospital chosen by the local authorities, he added.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said Hungary has earmarked one million US dollars towards programmes launched by Syria’s Christian churches aimed at helping those displaced by the disaster.

He noted that Hungary sent search and rescue teams to Türkiye immediately after the earthquake. The 167 experts and 29 rescue dogs Hungary sent to the disaster zone rescued 35 people, Szijjártó said. Hungary also delivered 120 tonnes of hospital equipment to Türkiye, he added.

Szijjártó expressed hope that Türkiye’s reconstruction efforts would be successful, adding that the country’s chances were good, “knowing Türkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s level of determination”.

As we wrote last week, talks between Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara focused on the war in Ukraine and energy security issues, details HERE.

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