Saudi Arabia’s Public Prosecution issued on Monday the final verdicts against eight convicts in the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing.
The prosecution said in a statement on the Saudi Press Agency that five were sentenced to 20 years in jail, and three sentenced to seven to 10 years in jail.
The verdicts were made after authorities checked Khashoggi’s family over their right to pardon, the statement said, adding that the verdicts are final and must be enforced.
Khashoggi’s sons said in May in a statement that they had “pardoned” killers, giving a legal reprieve to the five who had been sentenced to death and sparing their capital punishment. In Saudi Arabia, the family of the victim has the right to pardon the perpetrator.
Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey in October 2018, and a number of top Saudi officials were arrested in connection with the case.
Perhaps Hungary’s most eminent of all their young talents, Dominik Szoboszlai, produced a thunderous late free-kick which rattled into Turkey’s goal off a post and secured a 1-0 victory for Marco Rossi’s visiting Hungary team in their opening UEFA Nations League fixture on Thursday evening.
Turkey 0-1 Hungary (HT: 0-0) Venue: Sivas, Turkey, behind-closed-doors Goalscorer: Szoboszlai (80) Hungary (2-5-3): Gulácsi – Lang, Orbán, Szalai A. – Fiola, Nagy Á., Sigér (Schäfer 60), Holender – Sallai R. (Kalmár 81), Szoboszlai – Szalai Á (Nikolic 71).
A total of 290 days after their last international match, that EURO 2020 ualifying defeat in Wales, Marco Rossi’s Hungary were back in international action, albeit with a much changed lineup due to injury and virus exposure fears.
Neverthless, it was still a young, capable, talented lineup that Rossi picked. Winger Roland Sallai tested Turkey goalkeeper Cakir early on before Szoboszlai hit the left post with a right-footed shot after 19 minutes. Filip Holender achieved a similar feat 12 minutes later, his right-foot curler from Szoboszlai’s pass cannoning against the far-right side of the Turkish crossbar. At the other end, Gulácsi only had routine saves to make until the 52nd minute when he denied Burak Yilmaz after the Turkey foward had run half the length of the pitch to latch on to a long ball and shoot at goal, despite the attentions of a swiftly-recovering Ádám Nagy.
Hungary were next to threaten through Willie Orbán, the central defender’s bullet header from Szoboszlai’s right-wing free-kick somehow tipped over the bar by Cakir.
The opening goal wasn’t far away though and when it came it was something truly special, Salzburg midfielder Szoboszlai living up to his reputation as a dead-ball specialist by thrashing a near 30-metre free-kick past a static Cakir and in off the far right post with ten minutes left of the match.
That proved to be the final significant action of the game as Hungary got off to an impressive winning start in their Nations League group. Their next match is at home in the Puskás Aréna against Russia, who defeated Serbia 2-1 in the other group match tonight, at 18:00 on Sunday.
The Battle of Mohács in 1526 could have actually been fought on September 8 instead of August 29 as it was previously believed, said Norbert Pap, the Historical Geography professor at the University of Pécs, who is the leading researcher of the Suleiman Tomb complex near Szigetvár.
Norbert Pap, the leader of the research group which also examined the site of the Battle of Mohács, said to Origo that August 29, 1526, is one of the best-known dates in Hungarian history. The memory of the battle of Mohács was intertwined with the day of the beheading of St. John the Baptist and thus became the day of mourning for the Hungarian nation that lost its king and leaders.
“With this, August 29 became sacred. Symbols were built on it: the 200-year anniversary memorial site of the battle, the Battlefield Memorial Chapel (Csatatéri Emlékkápolna), was dedicated to St. John the Baptist,” Norbert Pap explained.
However, if we convert the time of written sources dated according to the Julian calendar used during the battle to the Gregorian calendar, the anniversary would be September 8, not August 29, he said.
But according to his explanation, the chronological location of the Battle of Mohács is determined by tradition. When telling the historical events of the 15-16th centuries, each important event – be it a Muslim, Christian, or Jewish calendar – is depicted as one of its holy days. However, sometimes calendars had to be reformed to remain usable for everyday life and religious practice, and also to be able to adapt to astronomical phenomena.
“Battle of Mohács (1526)” – Turkish miniature, currently on display at the Castle of Szigetvár in Hungary
Source: Wikimedia Commons / Dencey
This is also what happened in 1582 when, under the papacy of Gregory XIII, the 10-day slip to the spring point of the Julian calendar, which was used in the contemporary Christian world, was corrected. This was later remedied, among other things, by omitting 10 days following October 4, so the next day became October 15, instead of October 5. The reform was successful, the calendar was corrected, and the spring solstice, as well as other important astronomical events, were coordinated with it. The calculation of important religious holidays and the planning and organisation of agriculture have also become much more straightforward.
The researcher noted, however, that tradition is unreformable. Within a single year, holidays are followed by other holidays, and each has its own religious significance and symbolic meaning, as well as historical connotation. After a while, the calendar reforms carried out to organise the agricultural works have separated the sacral and secular (accurately measured) time.
The monument for Louis II in Mohács Source: Wikimedia Commons / Csanády
But what does it imply for Mohács? Norbert Pap emphasised that if we changed the day of remembrance, it would completely disrupt the memory of Mohács, which has a 500-year-old nation-building tradition. According to today’s Catholic calendar, September 8 is the Nativity of Mary and does not have any significance related to the Battle of Mohács.
“The birthday of the Virgin Mary is a celebratory day and could not be further from the tragic day of August 29 in Hungarian history,” he added.
Due to its symbolic content, this national day of mourning is therefore still on August 29, but in the context of their research, the fact that the battle, according to the Gregorian calendar, was on September 8 has major implications about the circumstances of the clash and the campaign of 1526 itself.
The professor said that the chronology of specific events on the day of the battle, for example, the sunrise and sunset, are different on September 8 than on August 29.
It has major significance in their historical study, as Ottoman sources describe the events of the Battle of Mohács in connection with Muslim prayers, which in turn are linked to astronomical (the Sun’s cycle) phenomena. In order to be able to reconstruct the events of the Battle of Mohács more accurately, the local time measured on the plain of Mohács on the day of the clash has to be calculated as per September 8 in the Gregorian calendar. According to Norbert Pap, among other things, when studying the movements of both the Hungarian and Ottoman armies, it may be worth considering the 10-day difference between August 29 and September 8.
“Battle of Mohács” painted by Rezső Grimm, currently in the Hungarian National Museum Source: Wikimedia Commons
The time when the crop ripens and the harvest takes place is important when researching the events of the campaign, as it was only after the harvesting work in the fields was done that the Hungarian troops were sent to the camp at Mohács.
When examining the conditions of the armies and its preparations, it is worth taking into account the fact that the 10-day slip in the Julian calendar means a significant difference in the vegetation cycle and the organisation of agricultural work.
Another circumstance worth mentioning is that due to the cold period, also called ‘Little Ice Age’, November was a winter month in the 16th century. The Ottomans withdrew from Hungary as the weather turned cold. The turning day was Kashim’s Day, October 26, which was St. Demeter’s Day according to the Julian calendar. A retreat in mid-October, based on the previous information, did not take place in the middle of autumn as it would be today, but back then it was the very end of autumn, or perhaps even early winter.
That is why the difference between the two calendars and its potential implications for the weather should be taken into account when researching the decisions of the military leadership of both parties, and of course, it is not only true for the events in 1526, the professor said. The recent find was reported by Norbert Pap and his research colleagues Péter Gyenizse, Máté Kitanics, and Gábor Szalai in the journal Balkán Füzetek (Balkan Papers).
Turkey and Hungary renewed the tomb together in 2018, and the building has received many awards since then. Now, it got a gold in the 2020 FIABCI World Prix d`Excellence Public Infrastructure category while a silver medal in the contest’s Heritage category.
We reported HERE about the story of Gül baba and his tomb. According to Magyar Epitok, the Ottomans built the tomb in the 16th century to hold the mortal remains of a Muslim dervish, Gül baba. We do not know when he was born, but Sultan Suleiman sent him to Hungary. Some say that
his name means Father of the Roses
because legend holds that he introduced the flower to the country. However, roses were already in Hungary by the time of the Ottoman invasion. His name can also be a corruption of Kel Baba, meaning ‘Bald Father’.
Gül Baba was an Ottoman philosopher, poet, and writer who was at the same time a Muslim monk and a Bektashi dervish. He took part in many Ottoman invasions in Europe from the reign of Mehmed II onwards. Reportedly, he died in Buda, in 1541, and, allegedly,
Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent was one of the coffin-bearers during his funeral.
The tomb is now Budapest’s oldest historical building since it is more than 450 years old. Authorities renewed it in 1962 and 1996, but by the mid-2010s, it became obvious that the building needed a complex renovation.
The main goal was not only to renew parts of the building but to renovate the neighbourhood of it as well, and to cooperate with the local government and Turkey in doing so. Magyar Epitok says that thanks to the project, Hungary could preserve one of its most important cultural heritages and was able to breathe new life into that previously neglected part of the city.
The park surrounding the tomb is open for everybody, and there is a Mediterranean hanging garden, a lot of benches, and a beautiful well. The constructor placed many new plants in the garden, including 400 roses. The compositions
offer different experiences for visitors in each terrace
of the hanging garden. Not surprisingly, the landscape architect of the project won the Best Landscape Architect Award of 2019.
Just as in 1456, the year of the battle of Nándorfehérvár (present-day Belgrade) against the Ottoman Empire, it is again up to central European nations to defend Europe, a defence ministry state secretary said on Wednesday.
“It was not just Hungary, but all of Christian Europe that was defended in that battle,” Szilárd Németh told public media after a commemoration event marking the anniversary of the victory of Christian forces led by Hungarian general Janos Hunyadi over the Ottoman Turks besieging Nandorfehervar.
He said the victory was about the unity among peoples and nations, exemplary patriotism and the importance of protecting Christian culture.
“The situation is similar now because Christian Europe has to be defended again,”
he said. “Immigration must be stopped no matter what because this is the only way we can protect our Europeanness and European culture. This is the only way we can guarantee the people’s safety.”
On another subject, state secretary said the Hungarian Armed Forces was doing its utmost to protect Hungary’s borders, using the Airbus H145M light multirole helicopters purchased last year to carry out reconnaissance.
Since Hungary lifted the border restrictions imposed because of the novel coronavirus epidemic, migration pressure on the border has been rising, the state secretary said. Whereas the authorities were apprehending a daily average of 50 illegal migrants at the border at the beginning of the year, they are now stopping an average of 70-80 migrants a day, Németh said.
He said it was not just immigration and terrorism that went “hand in hand” but also immigration and coronavirus. Németh warned that most migrants were coming from territories that were the hardest hit by the virus.
Every year on the 22nd of July, a special feeling overwhelms Hungarians while they hear the noon bell toll. On the 22nd of July, in 1456, 564 years ago, the siege of Nándorfehérvár took place. Thanks to the triumph of the Hungarians and the help of some other European forces, the armies of the Sultan Mehmed the II. had to withdraw. The popular Hungarian belief is that the victory of János Hunyadi was a “world-renowned” triumph, which commemorates Hungarian courage forever. Hunyadi was the archetype of the Hungarian hero in every era, and his actions belonged to the most glorious pages of Hungarian history.
The historiography of the 20th century has washed a little colour away from his myth in many ways, yet it has not taken deep root in public thinking. Although it turned out that János Hunyadi was responsible for launching the tragic campaign of 1444, he lost his two most significant battles and took an active part in the civil war, but all of this did not detract from his appraisal as a national hero, as his successes were attributed to his personal qualities.
There are two things: real deeds and their judgement, and these two are very separate things. The latter, of course, plays a more important role in creating a tradition.
The map of the battle of Nándorfehérvár
Source: Wikimedia Commons / The British Library
Such was the case with István I., Mátyás Hunyadi and Lajos Kossuth, who were seen by their contemporaries and immediate descendants with much less empathy. Yet, newer generations their stories in a way that evokes devotion and heroism. This is not a bad thing, however, because it can inspire future generations, but it is important not to alter past events entirely.
For us Hungarians, in the last five hundred years, Nándorfehérvár has become a symbol of self-sacrificing heroism, Hungary as the bastion of Christianity and the feeling of ‘we must fight alone’.
However, this developed gradually over the centuries. For those who fought the battle, this was certainly not as clear as it has become a symbol to us. But in today’s highly relative world, where centuries-old beliefs and values are being questioned in a matter of moments, we need to see how successful the Christian triumph really was.
The young Sultan Mehmed II. who inherited the Ottoman throne in 1453 successfully invaded Constantinople, a city that symbolised the last light of the Roman Empire. This was unthinkable for the people, and it caused panic in Europe. This was the context in which the Hungarians fended off the invaders at Nándorfehérvár. An attack launched by a young and ambitious Sultan against a divided force that lacked confidence.
János Hunyadi in the Battle of Varna by József Marastoni – WikiCommons /
It is also important to note that the fall of the Kingdom of Hungary would have dragged the remaining states of the Balkan Peninsula with it, so the eyes of the West were gazing upon Mihály Szilágyi and János Hunyadi whose defences were tested to the very limit.
Luckily, almost everything fell into place perfectly for the defenders: Serbian forces broke through the Ottoman ships on the Christian side, and the untrained Christian forces led by János Kapisztrán (John of Capistrano) intervened just at the right time. But there was more luck to it than you would first guess.
All things considered, the Christian victory, was unexpected and seemed miraculous in the eyes of contemporary people, so it was obvious to incorporate self-sacrificing heroes and miraculous elements into the narration of the story to give it some extra flair. This is how the myth of the noon bell toll and the heroic Titusz Dugovics came to life and became an integral part of Hungarian belief and tradition. Now it can be scientifically proven, that they cannot be associated with the triumph of Nándorfehérvár.
However, all this should not bother us, let us also rejoice in the bell ringing at noon and tell our children about the heroism of Titusz Dugovics, because these beliefs are the ones that bind us Hungarians together, these beliefs help us through hard times and these figures of heroism inspire us.
The castle of Nándorfehérvár Source: Wikimedia Commons / Derzsi Elekes Andor
The noon bell toll
To this day, many stubbornly believe, that the noon bell is in memory of the triumph of Nándorfehérvár, even though this theorem has been refuted several times over the past decades. Callixtus III., when found out about the Ottoman campaign, issued a so-called ‘imabulla’ (papal prayer bull) in Rome on the 29th of June announcing a spiritual crusade to defeat the “unbelieving”. According to the bull, between three o’clock in the afternoon and the evening prayer, they would ring the bells three times at half-hour intervals, and that every Christian would pray fervently when they heard it. Also, a bad omen appeared on the sky around this time on the 3rd of June; Halley’s comet, which suggested destruction and danger further making it seem unlikely to be able to stop the Ottoman Empire. The news of the triumph of Nándorfehérvár only arrived in Rome on the 6th of August, and to his delight, the Pope set the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord on this day, so in fact, this moment is the one which is most strongly associated with the Hungarian victory, not the noon bell toll.
It is important to mention that the bull and the victory in Nándorfehérvár were forgotten in the second half of the century. Due to the growing Ottoman threat, however, Pope Alexander VI. renewed the bull of his predecessor in 1500 and issued a new decree. He changed two things in the papal decree: he ordered the noon bell toll to encourage prayer, and this decree is the reason why they toll the bell at noon in the Christian world. So, we can only talk about the noon bell toll in the Christian world from this point onwards.
We know from the research of Endre Pálvölgyi that the idea that connects the noon bell to a Hungarian event developed in the Hungarian public consciousness in the middle of the 19th century.
It can be seen from many examples that official cultural policy, with the help of historical science, planted this dogma in the Hungarian public thinking during the millennium celebrations at the end of the 19th century. In a Hungary struck by the Treaty of Trianon, it did not take much to start believing it. The bell-ringing on Hungarian radio spread this myth among Hungarians, and it seems that it will stay with us in the future as well.
Titusz Dugovics
Alexander von Wagner: The Self- Sacrifice of Titusz Dugovics
Source: Wikimedia Commons
It is no exaggeration to say that almost everyone in Hungary knows the story of Titusz Dugovics. I was greatly moved by his sacrifice when I learned about him in 3rd or 4th grade, but unfortunately, it turns out that this is only a myth as well. The painting of Sándor Wagner beautifully depicts the story of the castle-defending hero, who on July 21st, 1456, dragged down with himself a Turkish soldier trying to raise the Sultan’s flag from one of the towers of Nándorfehérvár, kindling the spirit of his brother in arms. However, only a few people know that Titusz was actually born in 1824 when Gábor Döbrentei published three diplomas in ‘Tudományos Gyűjtemény’ (Scientific Collection) which were in possession of the then jury of Vas County, Imre Dugovics. In the following decades, the claim of the famous literary man was more and more widely accepted, so until the 1990s no one questioned the existence of Titusz Dugovics, but then more and more people raised doubts about Döbrentei’s claim.
The figure of the self-sacrificing hero is actually a migratory motif found in Western literature since the Antiquity.
Antonio Bonfini was the one who recorded the event the first time connected to Nándorfehérvár, but in his recordings, the soldier had no name. The next time such a hero is mentioned was by Johannes Dubravius, born in 1552. He refers to the self-sacrificing soldier as a Czech knight. At the beginning of the 19th century, the hero’s name became János Körmendi in the ballad of Johann Karl Unger. The cult of Titusz Dugovics was started by Döbrentei who believed the forged documents of a noble of Vas county were real. We do not know what motivated Imre Dugovics to forge these documents. It might have been to stop rumours around the nobility of his family, or he just simply wanted to have heroic ancestors. However, all this is irrelevant, as in the era of national romanticism there was a considerable demand for self-sacrificing heroes, so personal ambitions were immediately placed in a national context, and the cult of Titusz Dugovics was born.
János Kapisztrán (St. John of Capistrano)
János Kapisztrán and his irregular troops
Source: Wikimedia Commons / Otto Bitschnau OSB
After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Pope sent János Kapisztrán (St. John of Capistrano), who was approaching his seventies, to gather crusaders against the Ottoman Empire with his fanatical enthusiasm. He arrived in Hungary in 1455 and established a Christian alliance against the Turks. In the Spring of 1456, he enthusiastically began to recruit crusaders again.
He managed to gather an irregular army and hurried to the camp of János Hunyadi in order to aid him and his forces to defend Nándorfehérvár. After the fleet of Hunyadi broke through the ships of the Turkish Admiral Baltoglu, he sent Kapisztrán and his units to the island of Száva. Hunyadi and his mercenaries marched into the castle, to help the defenders, led by Hunyadi’s brother-in-law, Mihály Szilágyi, who found it difficult to keep their positions within the shattered walls of the castle. The sultan sent his army in to attack on July 22, but the defenders were able to fend the elite Turkish units off one last time.
The decisive clash was triggered by accident, however. Kapisztrán’s force was made up of undisciplined troops, and some of them crossed the river and began to attack the enemy camp from the flanks. More and more of these irregular troops followed suit and the Turkish Sipahis and Janissaries gathered to make a counterattack.
When Kapisztrán realised this, he wanted to prevent the clash, so he boarded a boat, but he achieved the opposite effect. His soldiers believed that their leader is inciting them to attack, so they followed his example and clashed with the Turks.
The Ottomans were surprised and left their camps and artillery unattended. Hunyadi seized the opportunity and broke out of the castle with a cavalry assault and seized the artillery pieces and attacked the Turks with their own weapons. A short, bloody conflict ensued, and the Hungarian forces emerged victoriously.
Foreign ministers of the European Union on Monday condemned the Turkish decision to convert Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia back to a mosque, saying that “will inevitably fuel mistrust, promote renewed divisions between religious communities and undermine efforts at dialogue and cooperation.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday denounced rising criticism over Ankara’s intention to convert the Hagia Sophia museum into a mosque, claiming that “The accusations against our country on the Hagia Sophia mean a direct attack on our sovereignty rights.”
“We will continue to protect the rights of Muslims, the dominant faith in our country, and those of other religions,” Erdogan said Friday in Istanbul.
Monday’s meeting was the first physical get-together of EU foreign ministers since the coronavirus pandemic. Turkey topped the agenda of the 27-member bloc, which reached “a consensus among member states that EU-Turkey relations were currently under strain because of worrying developments affecting the EU’s interests.”
The EU foreign ministers also called for what they say is “illegal” and “unilateral” drilling by Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean to stop and asked Turkey to contribute actively to a political solution in Libya and to respect the commitments it had taken, including the UN arms embargo.
Hagia Sophia is an iconic Byzantine church built in the 5th century.
Throughout the centuries, the former Greek Orthodox Christian church had also served as a Roman Catholic cathedral and an Ottoman mosque as the city changed rulers. Since 1935, the 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia has been open as a museum. It has been recognized by UNESCO as a monument of world cultural heritage since 1985.
On Friday, the Turkish State Council reached a verdict on the fate of the monument and Erdogan announced that
the first Muslim prayer at the site will be held on July 24.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erdogan discussed in a phone conversation developments in Syria and Libya, as well as the fate of Hagia Sophia, the Kremlin said.
The United States said on Friday that it was “disappointed” by the Turkish government’s decision of changing the Hagia Sophia museum into a mosque.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Monday called for strengthening the protection of the European Union’s external borders, arguing that the novel coronavirus pandemic may lead to new waves of migration.
Szijjártó said on Facebook after a meeting of EU foreign ministers that the bloc should also work to eliminate all “external factors contributing to migration”.
“The European Union should … focus on the real problems of Europeans rather than encourage migration,” he said.
Of the Middle East peace talks, a focal point of Monday’s meeting, Szijjártó said the EU’s attempts on that count had failed so far. Hungary supports the United States’ peace plan for the region, he said, as the “best starting point for talks and the one with the best chance of being implemented.” Hungary opposes all EU declarations “that would reduce the chances of implementing the US plan … and all declarations condemning Israel for alleged or real intentions,” he said.
Concerning the EU’s relationship with Turkey, Szijjártó called for a strategic approach within the European Union, noting that the bloc’s 2016 migration agreement “has put the EU’s security into Turkish hands”. The EU is yet to fully pay the 6 billion euros it had agreed to pay to Turkey, he noted.
Unless that happens shortly, Turkey may again open its borders towards Europe to the 4 million migrants currently on its territory, he warned.
The meeting also touched on the issue of the EU’s 2000 migration agreement with 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, Szijjártó said. Noting that the agreement was expiring this year, he called on the bloc to “rethink” prolonging it. “In the new situation” after the coronavirus pandemic, “the document has become one of those attempting to organise illegal migration“, he said.
The agreement focuses on regulating employment for people arriving to the EU from the signatory countries, Szijjártó noted.
However, millions of Europeans had lost their jobs during the pandemic, he said, and called on EU institutions and member states to focus on “solving the situation of Europeans rather than allow migrants into [their countries] who say they want to work there.”
“We have asked the European institutions to stop trying to legalise illegal migration,” he said.
The Turkish coast guard and police on Tuesday caught a total of 276 illegal migrants and eight human traffickers in a vessel off Turkey’s Aegean shore, the coast guard announced on its website.
The coast guard teams, police forces, and anti-smuggling and organized crime units conducted a joint operation both from the sea and the land to catch the migrants off the western province of Izmir, the statement said.
The migrants intended to sneak into Europe on a merchant ship, the guard added, noting that
the human traffickers were detained after the operation.
Meanwhile, the NTV broadcaster put the number of the migrants on the vessel at 268, adding that they were all having difficulties in breathing when they were caught.
It added that the refugees were of different nationalities from Bangladesh, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, and the Central African Republic.
Since the start of this year, a total of 11,856 migrants attempted to reach Greece via Turkey’s seas, down from 14,332 over the same period in 2019, according to the latest figures released by the Turkish coast guard.
The Aegean Sea was once the main route for migrants trying to reach Europe via Turkey. A deal was signed between Turkey and the European Union in March 2016 to curb the flow of illegal immigration.
The European Union should sign a new migration deal with Ankara so that Turkey will curb the flow of migrants across its border, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after talks with Mevlut Cavusoglu, his Turkish counterpart, in Ankara on Tuesday.
Szijjártó noted that Brussels had promised 6 billion euros to Turkey to handle the refugee situation in the country, adding that there was a dispute about how much of that money it has transferred to Ankara.
He called on Brussels to quickly settle the issue with Turkey and make good on its promise.
Referring to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Szijjártó said that while migration waves in the past primarily posed security and cultural risks, they now also came with serious health and economic risks.
Turkey is currently sheltering over 4 million migrants, while several hundred thousand more are staying across the Turkey-Syria border,
Szijjártó said, adding that the coronavirus pandemic could easily trigger new waves of migration, therefore it was in the European Union’s “vital interest” to maintain the migration agreement.
Cooperation between Turkey and the EU is also crucial for stabilising the situation in Libya, which currently offers a “green corridor” for illegal migrants, Szijjártó said.
The future of the EU will largely depend on its relations with Turkey, Szijjártó said, and urged that those ties should be “fair, straightforward, and based on mutual respect”.
“Brussels should finally leave behind hypocrisy and double-dealing,” he added.
Szijjártó said that “some members should say the same things in the presence of a representative of the Turkish government as in their absence” and suggested that some members have made it clear in a closed circle that they do not support Turkey’s EU membership.
The EU should also seek closer economic cooperation with Turkey in light of the coronavirus pandemic, Szijjártó said and urged an EU-Turkey free trade agreement, which would reduce duties and red tape in trade relations.
Szijjártó said that
the Hungarian government has opened a credit line of 100 million dollars with Hungarian Eximbank to assist Hungarian companies to Turkey’s markets.
The foreign minister said that Turkey could have a crucial role in ensuring the security of gas supplies for Hungary by way of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, through which Hungary could purchase an annual 6 billion cubic metres of natural gas.
The Visegrád Group countries have agreed on the need to build strategic cooperation with Turkey, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after a videoconference on Friday with counterparts.
Good relations with Turkey are a positive as far as efforts to contain the novel coronavirus is concerned, Szijjártó said on Facebook, noting that Hungary is among countries to have purchased protective equipment from Turkey.
He said Turkey would soon be among the world’s ten biggest economies. “We can’t afford ignore the world’s fastest developing economy as a target market for our exports,” he said.
Meanwhile, Turkey and central European countries are committed to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the minister said. Energy policy should be a national matter, he said, adding that the importance of nuclear energy was being questioned in western Europe and the EU.
Cooperation on nuclear energy, he added, would be an important area in cooperation between Turkey and central Europe.
Also, curbing migration is a priority in EU-Turkey relations, Szijjártó said, adding that Turkey was instrumental in preventing waves of migrants to western Europe. He called on the EU to pay Turkey 6 billion euros it had promised, saying this was a small amount compared to the costs accrued from uncontrolled migration.
Szijjártó called on his V4 counterparts to reaffirm their refusal to accept migrant quotas, adding that they had done so. He insisted that Brussels was “once again busy” elaborating a European pact on migration, adding that “migration must be stopped, not managed”.
Meanwhile, Szijjártó said Hungary backs Malta’s proposal to strengthen the Libyan Coast Guard from European funds with a view to preventing migrants from coming to Europe.
The minister noted that the EU is renegotiating its agreement with Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, saying that, in his view, the EU regarded the pact as important for providing a “legal channel” for people from those regions to take up jobs. He called for the European standpoint to be reconsidered in light of the fact that “many hundreds of thousands of Europeans have become unemployed” during the epidemic. European countries, he added, should place priority in providing employment opportunities for their own citizens instead.
The novel coronavirus epidemic is “clearly subsiding” in Hungary, with a downward curve for the 10th consecutive day, Chief Medical Officer Cecília Müller told a press conference of the operative board responsible for coordinating the response to the epidemic on Tuesday.
An analysis of the data showed that the curve of the epidemic was gradually rising after the first few reported cases on March 4 and peaked on the 15th week with 712 infections, she said. Since the 16th week, it has been decreasing, she added.
Müller said
the first death was reported on the 11th week and the highest number of deaths, at 91, was reported on the 16th week.
Speaking at the same press conference, head of the operative board Tibor Lakatos said it was important in the current phase of the epidemic that members of the public still demonstrate a willingness to obey the regulations.
Experience from the weekend was positive and police had to take action in very few cases, he added.
A total of 1,979 people have registered so far for the electronic home quarantine control system which has 852 users. Over the past 24 hours, 53 violations of the quarantine regulations have been reported, he added.
Hungary receives donation of health accessories from Turkey
Hungary took delivery of a donation of protective visors and hand sanitizers from Turkey on Tuesday.
Turkish businesses donated 50,000 visors, 16,000 hand sanitizers and 20,000 hand sanitizers with high alcohol content to Hungary,
Saut Karakus, deputy head of the Turkish-Hungarian chapter of Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), which organised the donation, said when handing over the accessories in Budapest.
Photo: MTI
Foreign ministry state secretary Levente Magyar said most of the help Hungary had received during the novel coronavirus pandemic had come from the East, adding that nearly all Turkic countries had provided assistance.
Ahmet Akif Oktay, Turkey’s ambassador to Hungary, said:
“By implementing effective measures, Turkey and Hungary have managed to keep the death toll and the damage from the pandemic low.”
Hungary will join an investment fund to be set up by countries of the Turkic Council, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after attending a teleconference of the council’s economy ministers on Wednesday.
In a Facebook entry, Szijjártó said that the fund would be instrumental in making investments primarily in food production, farming and infrastructure both in Hungary and Turkic Council countries. He added that Turkey would also join the fund.
Szijjártó said that Wednesday’s conference was given a special significance by the economic aspects of the coronavirus pandemic. He warned of restructuring trends in the global economy, including a strengthening of economies in the East.
While in 2007, 81 percent of global investments had been financed from Western funds, the share of Eastern capital had increased to 58 percent by last year, he argued.
In the conference, Szijjártó thanked Turkic countries for their contribution to Hungary’s efforts against the spread of coronavirus, and made special mention of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan for their face mask supplies.
Concerning ties with the Turkic countries, Szijjártó said that Hungary had doubled the turnover of trade with them in the past 10 years. He also added that Hungary’s Eximbank has offered a total 707 million dollars in loans aimed at assisting Hungarian companies with initiatives in Turkic countries.
Participants in the conference agreed that coronavirus-related restrictions should not slow down international trade, the free and fast movement of goods being in everybody’s interest, Szijjártó said.
A total of 401,011 Syrians in Turkey have returned to their country, Turkish Interior Ministry Spokesman Ismail Catakli said Tuesday.
Turkey currently hosts 3,588,263 Syrians,
Catakli said at a monthly news briefing.
Turkey described Syrians in its territory as “guests” instead of refugees and provided them with temporary protection, he noted.
The Turkish authorities caught a total of 2,711 irregular migrants, 253 of which were at sea, and 31 organizers for this illegal human trafficking were detained, he added.
He also briefed about Turkey’s anti-terror operations across the country.
“A total of 8,163 operations across rural areas were carried out, including three major operations and 27 medium-sized ones, and 252 operations were carried out in cities in April,” the spokesman said.
A total of 37 “terrorists” were killed during anti-terror operations in April, Catakli noted, referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the EU, has fought a 30-year war against the Turkish government, claiming the lives of more than 40,000.
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Wednesday confirmed 4,117 new COVID-19 cases and 87 more deaths from the virus in Turkey.
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Turkey rose to 38,226, while the death toll surged to 812, Koca tweeted.
Turkey conducted a total of 24,900 tests for the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of tests carried out so far to 247,768, he said.
The minister noted that 1,846 patients have recovered since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country, while 1,492 patients are being treated at the intensive care units and 995 others being intubated.
Turkey, the second hardest-hit country by the virus in the region, has witnessed a fast rise in the number of confirmed cases of infections since March 11, when it reported the first COVID-19 case.
All European Union members face similar challenges in connection with the novel coronavirus, and protective measures are expected to remain in place in the long term, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Monday.
He told the first videoconference of EU foreign ministers that measures by member states to restrict border entry were fully legitimate. At the same time, it is commonly understood that freight transport must be maintained because this guarantees the continuity of supplies, he added. Despite this, tailbacks have formed on many borders because of lorry traffic, he said.
“Common efforts will be needed to overcome this”, he said.
Meanwhile, Szijjártó said it was “in vain to expect” EU coordination in efforts to bring back home the Hungarian citizens stuck abroad. This has been so far organised in line with bilateral agreements and measures by individual member states, he said. Since 5pm on Sunday, an additional 726 Hungarian citizens have been transported back home this way, he said.
On some occasions, other countries helped Hungarians travel back home, which is likely to happen again in the future, he said, adding that Hungary would act likewise. Many hundreds of thousands of EU citizens are stuck abroad and in many countries the restrictions make even travel to the airport difficult, he added.
“A working team helping people return is on the job constantly,” he said.
Szijjártó said the two greatest challenges facing the EU were migration and the novel coronavirus.
“Unfortunately, it seems both will stay with us in the long term,” he said. “We will have to protect ourselves against both challenges in the long term,” he added.
He noted the EU had wanted to launch another mission in the Mediterranean to combat the Libyan arms trade. Hungary, he added, agreed with this in principle but only if it did not turn into a rescue operation to bring in illegal migrants from north Africa.
Szijjártó said the activities carried out under this scheme would be reviewed every four months. The approval of all member states will be necessary to carry on with it, which means Hungary has a veto, he added.
“If we find that, similarly to earlier European missions, the operations in the Mediterranean result in the arrival of new migrants to Europe, then we will immediately force it to stop,” he said.
He added that the situation on the Greek-Turkish border was also discussed. An earlier agreement signed by the EU and Turkey must be updated, or a new one signed, in order to prevent Ankara from keeping the gates open to the European Union.
“If it requires a new agreement to be signed, then we should do that,” he said, adding that the EU had earlier promised 6 billion euros to Turkey to handle the refugee situation in the country.
According to Ankara, the EU has so far transferred only 2.7 billion euros, while Brussels says 4.2 billion has been paid so far, he said. Szijjártó said it made no difference who was right because “neither sum is 6 billion”.
He asked the EU foreign affairs representative to clarify the issue, adding that it was still cheaper to pay 6 billion euros now than to allow “the dams to burst” on the Greek-Turkish border.
“The wave of illegal migration is now not only a security or cultural threat but also a very serious health risk,” he said, referring to the novel coronavirus.
Until the European Union and Turkey reach a new deal to stem migrant flows, Turkey cannot be expected to halt the flow of migrants towards the bloc’s external borders, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday.
Migration pressure on the Greek-Turkish border is unlikely to ease until Brussels begins taking Turkey’s requests, needs and concerns seriously, Szijjártó told a press conference after a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Szijjártó said migration pressure towards Turkey was on the rise, adding that some 1.5 million Syrian internally displaced refugees had set off for the country. He said that according to Cavusoglu, Turkey was also facing increased migration pressure from the directions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Szijjártó noted that Turkey stopped 455,000 migrants last year.
He said a new deal between Turkey and the EU was especially important given that uncontrolled mass migration presented serious health risks at a time when every government measure is aimed at minimising close contact between people.
Szijjártó also said the EU and Turkey were at odds over a 6 billion euro aid package promised to Turkey to help it cope with the refugee situation, with the two sides disagreeing on how much of that aid the bloc has paid out. “What’s certain is that it’s not 6 billion,” Szijjártó said, adding that it was time for Brussels to reach an agreement with Turkey that would “settle the matter once and for all”.
Concerning energy affairs, Szijjártó said there was a realistic chance that Hungary could start importing a significant amount of natural gas via Turkey, Bulgaria and Serbia from next year.
Regarding the coronavirus outbreak, Szijjártó said a Hungarian company had ordered eight tonnes of textiles from Turkey for the production of face masks. He said Cavusoglu had promised that Turkey would approve the order and ship it to Hungary before the end of the week.
Currently, 112 Hungarians are quarantined in 12 countries around the world, he said, 86 of whom are in Austria. Four of those in quarantine have tested positive for the virus, he added.
The minister added there are 4,500 Hungarian citizens who had registered for consular protection abroad.
The opposition Párbeszéd party has welcomed that the government declared a state of emergency with regard to the coronavirus epidemic on Wednesday, while the Democratic Coalition (DK) said the measures should have been introduced much earlier.
Párbeszéd
Tímea Szabó, Párbeszéd’s parliamentary leader, told a press conference that introduction of a state of emergency was a good start for preparations, should the situation aggravate. Szabó, however, asked why the government had not ordered the closure of schools similarly to 15 other European Union members. She argued that while children did not typically get sick, they could pass on the virus. She called on the government to work out protocols for parents who may have to stay at home with their children in case of a possible schools ban, and suggested that such parents should receive their full salaries.
Szabó also called on the government to provide primary health care staff with protective gear and disinfectants, and insisted that health care services would collapse if too many general practitioners got sick.
On another subject, Szabó said it was not clear if the “tens of thousands” of guest workers returning from Italy and travelling across Hungary were screened for coronavirus. Referring to press reports, she said that
passangers on flights from Italy in the past few days had not been subjected to any screening, and demanded that the earlier strict controls should be restored.
DK
Csaba Molnár, DK’s executive deputy leader, said that the government’s declaring a state of emergency was “the result of a nervous rush” and accused the government of trying to belittle the problem for weeks. Molnár insisted that recent government reports had suggested that “there is enough health care capacity, there are enough face masks, enough respirators and all is in the best order”, while the government’s “giving itself the broadest powers under the constitution” on Wednesday constitute “a clear and serious contradiction”.
The government is “in full panic”,
Molnár said, adding that “while a week or ten days ago such an announcement would have suggested a readiness to take action, now it is telling people that the government is not in control of the situation”.
Conservative Jobbik leader Péter Jakab called for a “public health border seal” and demanded that foreign nationals should only be allowed to enter the country if they had a written certificate of their non-infectious status.
In a Facebook entry, Jakab said that
creches, kindergartens and schools should be closed.
He argued that such measures could reduce the spread of the virus by up to one thirds, and said that leaving those insitutions open could jeopardise the health of both children and parents.
Jakab also warned that “hundreds of thousands” of illegal migrants in Turkey could set off for Europe, with the Turkish media suggesting that they could cross the “less controlled” Romania-Hungary border.
He said it was an open question how many of those migrants could be infected, adding that it was crucial that the government should reestablish the border guards.
“The border should be controlled by border guards. This is an issue of public security and public health,” he added.
