Turkish and Hungarian joint music culture was introduced as a part of the monthly Turkish Coffee House Evenings program of the Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center in Budapest.

Hungarian philologist and ethnologist Dr. David Somfai Kara, who studies Central Asian Turkic peoples, cultures and languages, attended the program at the Budapest Yunus Emre Institute building as a speaker. Kara made a presentation about Turkish Shaman music and the epic narrative tradition in the program.

THERE ARE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN TURKISH AND HUNGARIAN FOLK MUSIC

Kara said that the oldest forms of Hungarian folk music are similar to the folk music of Turkic peoples.

Explaining that he traveled from Central Asia to Southern Siberia, Kara said that they visited Central Asian Turkic peoples and had the opportunity to examine the link between the musical culture of the peoples living here and Hungarian folk music.

After the presentation, Kara gave a concert with Hungarian artists, featuring the Central Asian string instrument kopuz, consisting of traditional epic tales and throat-singing folk songs in Altai and Khakas, Southern Siberian Turkic languages.