Turkey continues to restore Ottoman history in Hungary

BUDAPEST - Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s state aid agency is continuing work to unearth and restore the historical heritage of the Ottoman Empire in Hungary, its Hungary coordinator said on June 2.

Archaeological work is ongoing in Szigetvar, southern Hungary, where some remains of Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent are thought to be buried, Süleyman Kızıltoprak, the Turkish Coordination and Cooperation Agency’s (TİKA) coordinator in Hungary, told state-run Anadolu Agency.

TİKA is also restoring the historic mausoleum of Gül Baba, a famed Ottoman warrior and poet, in the capital Budapest, Kızıltoprak added.

Noting that TİKA’s Hungary office is the first to be set up in an EU member state, he also said the agency is working in the country in various areas including health and the social and cultural fields.

TİKA is a state agency operating in 58 countries with a total of 60 offices across the globe.

Last year, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban gave a merit medal to TİKA head Serdar Cam, praising the agency for “contributing to the promotion of education, health and public institutions in Hungary and Hungarian culture in Turkey.”

In 2015, historians discovered what they believe to be the shrine and mosque where Suleyman the Magnificent’s internal remains were interred in 1566.

“This is the biggest and most important project jointly undertaken by Turkey and Hungary,” said Orban.

Suleyman the Magnificent was the longest-reigning sultan of the Ottoman Empire and presided over its golden age for 46 years. As well as military conquests in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, he instituted major legislative reforms and was a keen patron of the arts and technology.