The conference's objective, in addition to commemorating the centenary of the Turkish Republic, was to outline the history of Hungarian-Turkish relations and to promote their significance.
On the occasion of the centenary of the founding of the Republic of Türkiye, the International and Regional Studies Institute (NRTI) of the Faculty of Law and Political Science of the University of Szeged organized the conference on 17 October 2023 entitled "Centenary of the Republic of Türkiye - Progress, Change and Future" in cooperation with the Department of Altaic Studies of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and the Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye in Budapest also provided support for the implementation of the event.
The purpose of the conference, in addition to the celebration of the centenary of the Turkish Republic, was to present the history of Hungarian-Turkish relations and to promote their significance. On behalf of the University, Prof. Zoltán Gyenge, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, as well as Dr. habil. Norbert Merkovity, Vice Dean of Education at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences gave an opening speech at the ceremony. On behalf of the Turkish delegation, Her Excellency Ambassador Gülsen Karanis Eksioğlu greeted the participants and in her speech, she reviewed and evaluated the Hungarian-Turkish relations going back several centuries as particularly positive. In her speech, she praised Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's role in the creation of the modern Turkish state. After the opening speeches, the invitees explained in detail the jurisprudence of the period covered by the event, the development of cultural, scientific and diplomatic relations between the two countries in relation to their own fields of expertise.
During the morning session, Prof. Dr. Sándor László Papp, Head of the Altaic Studies Department at the University of Szeged, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, presented the sources that testify to the application of the Ottoman jurisprudence in Hungary. From his presentation, it became clear that the administrative and legislative power in the Hungarian territories of the Ottoman Empire was able to function extremely effectively during the 17th century. Unfortunately, most of the documents testifying the effective legal practice have disappeared or have been destroyed by now. Next, Prof. Melek Colak and Prof. Sevgi Can Yagci Aksel, both participating the event from Türkiye delivered their speeches, highlighted the bilateral positive relationships between Türkiye and Hungary from the cultural and academic point of view. Dr. Emre Sara, also participating from Türkiye, concluded the morning session with his presentation on the relations between Türkiye and Hungary from the Lausanne Peace Treaty point of view.
During the afternoon session, Anita Zalai, Associate Professor of NRTI, presented the views of a prominent Catalan politician of the 20th century, Francesc Cambó, in her presentation entitled “Extras to the contemporary history of the current Spanish-Turkish relationships”, Although Francesc Cambó, who travelled through Türkiye and was initially skeptical about Mustafa Kemál Atatürk and the establishment of the Republic of Türkiye, with the passage of time and the increase in available information, he came to an overall positive conclusion on the idea of the modernization of Turkish state. Following, Dr. Gábor Fodor, co-worker at the HUN-REN Humanities Research Centre, gave a presentation about a Hungarian archaeologist and a researcher, Zoltán Oroszlán, who researched and saved the heritage of the first Hungarian institute established abroad, the Hungarian Institute of Science which made enormous contribution to the Turkish Hungarian relations.
During the closing lecture, Dr. Zoltán Egeresi, a researcher at the National University of Public Service and the Strategic Defense Research Institute, presented the geopolitical situation of Türkiye in the last hundred years. According to Dr. Egeresi, with the birth of the Republic of Türkiye, the country’s geopolitical role increased and, as a member of NATO, it has much greater importance today than perhaps ever before. In addition, he also highlighted that as a result of the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, the geopolitical situation of the Balkans became uncertain, and Türkiye may become a key player in stabilizing this situation. The last presentation was delivered by the NRTI assistant professor Dr. Gizem Gültekin-Várkonyi who shared a couple of descriptive statistics on the participation to the higher education programs by Turkish and Hungarian students in these countries.
The presentations of the conference revealed that Mustafa Kemál Atatürk's personality and the role he played in the founding of the Republic of Türkiye enjoyed special respect and it is respected the same way. His visions for the modernization of the country enabled to become a regional power and exert a significant influence on international politics.
The credit must be given to the efforts of the NRTI Assistant Professor, Dr. Gizem Gültekin-Várkonyi who ensured effective contact with professional and diplomatic partners, the compilation of a meaningful program, and the bilingual (Hungarian-Turkish) moderation of the opening of the event – which in itself created a special atmosphere – contributed to the success of the event in a significant way. At the end of the event, all partners agreed that the University of Szeged give an excellent framework for strengthening Turkish-Hungarian scientific and cultural relations in the future.
