Under the slogan "Because poetry brings us together," the Arab Poetry Festival kicked off in Istanbul on Thursday, as part of the activities aimed at enhancing communication between Arabs and Turks, in light of the rise in the number of Arab communities in Turkey.
The festival, which ends Friday, will feature more than 30 Arab poets from several Arab countries, including Palestine, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon and other countries, as well as dozens of Turkish poets and writers.
The festival, which was held at the Islamic Science Theater at Marmara University in Uskkar, is organized by the International Association of Arabic Poetry (a non-governmental organization based in Istanbul) and sponsored by the Turkish University of Marmara.
The festival, which was attended by hundreds of Turkish students at the Faculty of Arabic and Islamic Sciences at the University of Marmara, aims to contribute to the formation of poetic entities of authentic Arab identity in exile, organizers said.
The festival includes dozens of paragraphs, including poetry readings and paragraphs of Arabic music. Two symposia are held at the festival, where many specialists and poets speak about Arabic poetry.
The first seminar focuses on Turkish-Arab cultural relations, and the second on the role of media in building honor guests of Turkish poets.
"This festival is the first of our activities after the founding of our international association. The festival comes to all those who believe in the need to strengthen our Arab culture in exile," said Mustafa Matar, director of the Arab Poetry Festival.
In the opening speech, he added that Arab poets have chosen to be a pillar of success to establish the success of this grand edifice by establishing a large poetry house that will become a cultural casket that Arab poets will come from every corner.
"We are honored and honored to host the sultans of poetry and speech in our prestigious university, and we are proud to host this unique meeting here," said Marmara University Director Arol Osbay.
"The city where you live in Istanbul is what attracts poets and makes them live there, and poets bring them ideas that come one by one."
The Arab cultural festivals, which have increased in recent years, are seeking to build bridges of communication between the Arab and Turkish peoples, especially after the recent rise in the number of Arab communities in Turkey.