2024 Hungarian-Turkish Year opening event to take place in Istanbul

On Dec. 18, 2023, the MUPA Hungarian Arts Palace in Budapest hosted a grand opening to mark the 100th anniversary of the friendship treaty and the year 2024 officially declared as the “Hungarian-Turkish Year of Culture”

The inaugural event of the “2024 Hungarian-Turkish Year of Culture”, announced in December to mark the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye’s diplomatic cooperation with Hungary, is scheduled for Jan. 21 at the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM).

The opening program will feature a gala concert in Istanbul by the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra, led by their new conductor, Gergely Keselyák, with different soloists. The following day, a similar performance will take place in Ankara, the capital of Turkiye.

Minister of State for Culture and Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Peter Hoppal, will initiate the opening ceremony. Subsequently, the Director of the Hungarian National Museum, Judit Hammerstein, will unveil the exhibition on “Hungarian Contributions to the Building of the Republic of Türkiye”, highlighting the early period of the Republic of Türkiye. This exhibition, a collaborative effort between the Hungarian National Museum and the Liszt Institute Hungarian Cultural Center, will be open to visitors at the AKM until Feb. 4.