Hungarian president commemorates Turkish earthquake victims

Hungary's president on Tuesday held a minute of silence with women ambassadors in the capital Budapest for the victims of two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye last week.

Katalin Novak hosted the ambassadors for a luncheon at the presidential palace, including Gulsen Karanis Eksioglu, Turkey's ambassador to Budapest.

On social media, Novak said that they commemorated the victims of the tragic earthquake with respect by observing a minute of silence and then conveyed their condolences to the Turkish ambassador.

Later, Novak said she welcomed search and rescue teams that took park in operations in Türkiye after the Feb. 6 earthquakes.

''Hungary was one of the first countries to offer assistance after the earthquake in Türkiye. Today we said thank you to the selfless heroes who helped in the rescue efforts. Thanks to them, several lives could be saved. Help those in need,'' said Novak.

In the quake's aftermath, search and rescue teams made up of 167 experts from Hungary accompanied by 29 rescue dogs rescued 35 trapped people from under collapsed buildings.

On Feb. 6, the earthquakes struck southern Türkiye, centered in Kahramanmaras and shaking nine other provinces-Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

The magnitude 7.6 and 7.7 tremors also hit several countries and caused destruction in northern Syria.

More than 35,400 people were killed in Türkiye, according to the latest official figures.