Turnout at publishing houses and book pavilions at the Istanbul Arabic Book Fair (Anatolia)

Developments in the Gaza Strip constitute the most prominent title of the events and events of the Eighth International Arabic Book Fair in Istanbul, Turkey, which is witnessing intensive participation from several Arab countries.

It is remarkable in this year's exhibition that Arab publishing houses participated for the first time, and others more than once due to the great interest and demand from visitors.

The exhibition is organized by the International Association of Arabic Book Publishers in Turkey, in cooperation with the Turkish Publishers Association, the Turkish Publishers Association, and with the support of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and the Turkish Ministry of Culture.

According to the organizers, more than 250 publishing houses representing 30 countries will participate in the exhibition to display more than 150,9 titles at the 9-day exhibition between December 17-<>.

The exhibition includes about 100 diverse cultural and artistic events, in addition to intellectual seminars, book signings, poetry evenings, as well as several events on Palestine and Gaza, in light of the continued Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Since the seventh of last October, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on Gaza, which has left 18,412 dead and 50,100 wounded, most of them children and women, according to Palestinian sources, massive destruction in infrastructure and an "unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe" according to UN sources.

Visitors and publishing houses from across the Middle East at the Istanbul Book Fair (Anatolia)

The Palestinian cause is present

The exhibition witnessed the spread of Palestinian flags, and centers to collect aid and donations to Gaza, as developments in Palestine and the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip dominate the events, events and interest of visitors in the exhibition.

Publishing houses receive questions from visitors and interest in books related to Palestine and its map, as well as seminars and side events at the exhibition, which focus on understanding and awareness of developments in Palestine.

Fundraising boxes were scattered in several places within the exhibition under the supervision of the International Relief and Freedoms Organization in Turkey (IHH), which oversees the relief work.

Turkish Relief Foundation pavilion at the exhibition (Anatolia)

Good post we hope to repeat

Mehdi Tawassi, executive director of the Idrissi Intellectual Foundation for Research and Studies (a Moroccan publishing house), said that "this is the first time we participate in the exhibition in Turkey, and this participation is excellent in terms of organization and visitors."

"We liked the participation, and we hope to repeat it in the coming years, the size of the turnout is good, and what visitors are most interested in is books of hadith, culture, thought and literature," he told Anatolia.

"Regarding the Palestinian cause, we have a book on how to understand the Palestinian cause, which was ranked first in the sale in Morocco, and we have a map of Palestine, and in these times we are all in solidarity with our people in Palestine," Tawassi said.

Khalid Salama of the Golden Heritage House Asfar for precious books from Saudi Arabia said, "We participated in the exhibition last year, and it was a good participation and we decided to repeat it this year as well."

Salameh pointed out that "the rainy weather affects the attendance a little, but thank God the situation is stable and good, we are a heritage house that publishes jurisprudence and we have a group in Hanafi jurisprudence required in Turkey."

He pointed out that "there are visitors who ask about Palestine books, but we are a heritage publishing house, and we intend to participate next year, which will become clear by the end of the exhibition."

Heavy turnout

Noor from Dar Al-Fikr Al-Jadeed from the UAE said, "The participation is beautiful and the atmosphere is wonderful, and this is our third participation and every year we notice the turnout of readers, and they amaze us with their beautiful and dense turnout for the house and Arabic books, and they are eager every year to participate in the exhibition."

"Readers usually ask about many things, most of them about personality and how to strengthen oneself, as well as heritage and old books, so we have a unit for books called O Boy by Abu Hamza al-Ghazali, in which we tried to revive heritage," Nour said.

Noor from Dar Al-Fikr Al-Jadid from Emirates (Anatolia)

"We found a great demand for it, and there are lovers of heritage and understanding of personality and heritage, we are based on the idea of how to understand oneself, we have various books for children, novels and books about personality and management," Noor added.

Ahmed Ragab, director of external marketing at Dar Al-Maaref from Misr Anatolia, said that "this is the first time Dar Al-Maaref participates in the Istanbul exhibition, and it is clear that it is a good experience and we are happy to exist, and we hope that it will be repeated in the future."

"I was surprised that we have a large audience here, but because we didn't come, we were surprised to ask visitors about literature, especially about the works of Taha Hussein and the series of Arab ammunition that is more than a hundred years old in Dar al-Maaref," Rajab said.

Ahmed Ragab Director of Foreign Marketing at Dar Al Maaref from Egypt (Anatolia)

"Even children's books we saw that there was a turnout and a question about it, especially to visit us and ask about it by visitors, this experience is successful, and we hope to participate every year," Rajab concluded.

The pavilion of the Palestine House of Culture also enjoys a distinguished presence, as the organizers of the pavilion stated that they have seen great interest, especially from the new generations, to know the history of the Palestinian cause.

The pavilion includes photos and maps of Palestine, as well as books and pictures of the most prominent Palestinian intellectuals, to answer the inquiries of visitors interested in the Palestinian cause, so that Palestine and Gaza will be the most prominent address in the book fair.

Pavilions in the exhibition also include images of the most prominent landmarks of Palestine, Al-Quds Al-Sharif and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Source : Anadolu Agency