Your Excellency, Mr. President,

Mr. Commissioner,

Mr. Governor,

Esteemed Guests,

I and my wife are very pleased to be here. It is also a great honor for me to address this distinguished audience.

At the outset, I would like to thank the Government Office of Borsod-Abaúj-Ƶemplén County and the Honorary Consulate of Hungary in İzmir for their kind invitation to this opening ceremony.

I am very happy to see that following its earlier staging in İzmir, this exhibition has now come to Mád, in the heart of the beautiful Tokaj region.

This project got under way before I took up my duties in Hungary. So I have not had the opportunity to meet most of the photographers who took part in the exhibition. But I know that their collaborative efforts produced a wonderful outcome.

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. The photographs exhibited here may be silent, yet they speak volumes about the natural and cultural wonders of our respective countries.

This joint project not only creates a new cultural bridge between Tokaj and İzmir, but also makes an important contribution to the further strengthening of the friendship between our nations.

I have no doubt that the exhibition will receive the broad public attention and acclaim that it rightly deserves.

Before concluding, I would like to express my deep appreciation to all the Hungarian and Turkish photographers as well as sponsors and institutions involved in putting the exhibition together.

I wish to particularly commend the efforts of Mr. İzzet Keribar, Mr. and Mrs. Özoğuz, and Ambassador Gábor Kiss, who were instrumental in bringing this unique project to fruition.

Last but not least, I would like to congratulate the organizers on their selection of this nice venue to stage the exhibition.

Once again, thank you very much for the invitation and for your hospitality. I wish the exhibition great success. I also wish all of you a very pleasant evening.