Erdoğan comes to Budapest, but part of Hungarian press not informed about his programmes

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrived in Budapest for a one-day visit on Monday, and while it was known for a long time that he would be coming on this day, it seems that the authorities forgot to inform Telex – and several other independent news outlets – about which of the President's planned activities would be open to the press.

Prior to a visit by a high-ranking politician, press outlets typically receive invitations to public programmes open to the media. Or, if they do not receive an invitation, events of public interest are listed among the official programmes published by the Hungarian State News Agency (MTI). In this case, however, neither did Telex receive an official invitation, nor did the MTI's list of programmes include details of Erdoğan's visit to Budapest.

Telex found out last week from a journalist working for a foreign newspaper that the Turkish President would be meeting with President Katalin Novák at Heroes' Square on Monday at noon, where Erdoğan would take part in a military ceremony and a wreath-laying ceremony. The staff member of the foreign newspaper forwarded the press invitation to us, which revealed that "for members of the press, participation in the events is subject to pre-registration". The letter also stated that registrations should be sent no later than by noon on Friday, "indicating which events you wish to attend".

We found out from the use of the plural that several of Erdoğan's programmes in Budapest would be open to the press. So we made inquiries with the Prime Minister's Office to find out which ones these would be. After several of our inquiries were left without a response, they finally replied that Erdoğan will meet with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Monday afternoon, where we can register a photographer, but not a journalist. This registration was later approved.

Hvg.hu had the same experience. The paper reported on Monday that they had registered their photographer for the Erdoğan-Orbán meeting last Thursday and their journalist last Friday. Their photojournalist was sent a confirmation, but their journalist was not, even though they sent the letter in time. They were told by phone that the journalist's registration had not arrived. So they sent the letter again on Monday, but were then told that the deadline for registration had passed.

The Hungarian Prime Minister will receive the Turkish President on Monday afternoon at the former Carmelite Monastery, where the cordons that had been in place for more than two years had disappeared by Monday morning.

The Turkish President's visit to the Hungarian capital comes as part of the meeting of the High Level Hungarian-Turkish Strategic Cooperation Council, as well as to mark the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Hungarian-Turkish diplomatic relations. The meeting of the Strategic Cooperation Council was prepared by Orbán and Erdoğan on 20 August, when the Turkish President was last in Budapest.