UPDATE - Turkish president arrives in Hungary to attend Organization of Turkic States summit

UPDATES WITH PRESIDENT’S ARRIVAL IN HUNGARY; REVISES HEADLINE, LEDE; OTHER EDITS

By Koray Tasdemir, Irem Demir, and Zehra Nur Celik

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AA) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived Wednesday in Hungary’s capital Budapest to attend an informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS).

Erdogan was welcomed by Hungary’s Construction and Transport Minister Janos Lazar, Protocol Director General Anett Varga, Hungarian Ambassador to Türkiye Viktor Matis, and Turkish Ambassador to Budapest Gulsen Karanis Eksioglu, along with embassy staff.

Erdogan is expected to attend a meeting of the OTS Council of the Heads of State as well as hold bilateral contacts with participating heads of state and government.

During the summit, which has the theme "Meeting point of East and West," a review of ongoing efforts to strengthen the group’s institutional structure and the adoption of various documents and decisions, including the Budapest Declaration, is expected, Türkiye's Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said on X.

Accompanying Erdogan on the trip are first lady Emine Erdogan and Akif Cagatay Kilic, chief presidential adviser on foreign policy and security, along with Altun.

The group’s heads of state summit is set for today.

Türkiye, alongside Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, is a member state of the OTS, while Hungary, alongside Turkmenistan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, are observer states.