Bertalan Havasi, the Deputy State Secretary heading the Press Office of the Prime Minister, has told kormany.hu that on Monday morning Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sent a message to Prime Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu, expressing his anger and sadness at Sunday’s suicide bombing in Ankara.

“Please convey my condolences to the families of the deceased. We sincerely hope that the innocent people injured in the attack will recover soon”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wrote in his message, adding that “Hungary condemns this cruel attack in the strongest possible terms, and remains Turkey’s committed partner and ally in its fight against every form of terrorism”.

Early on Sunday evening a car laden with explosives exploded near Kizilay Square in the centre of Ankara, in the immediate vicinity of one of the capital’s busiest shopping centres. By Monday the number of victims killed in the blast had increased to thirty-seven.