TÜYAP Book Fair, hosted by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, opened its doors for the 25th time. The fair, which includes the books of nearly 300 publishers, will be open until 19 March 2023. Within the scope of the fair, a “Hanging Book” campaign is also organized to be sent to the earthquake zone.
İzmir Book Fair, which was organized for the 25th time this year by Tüm Fuarcılık Yapım A.Ş (TÜYAP) and Turkish Publishers Association, was opened in Fair İzmir. İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Mustafa Özuslu, former Minister of Culture Ercan Karakaş, Chairman of the Turkish Publishers Association Kenan Kocatürk, honorary writer Veysel Çolak, TÜYAP Fairs Yapım A.Ş. General Manager İlhan Ersözlü, Karşıyaka Mayor Cemil Tugay, İzmir Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Murat Karacanta, İzmir City Council President Nilay Kökkılınç, IYI Party İzmir Provincial President Sinan Bezircilioğlu, guests and book lovers attended.
“The number of our libraries has exceeded 50”
Speaking at the opening, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Mustafa Özuslu drew attention to the importance of organizing the fair for the 25th time and said, “There is deep poverty in certain regions of İzmir. We open mini-libraries there so that children can reach the book. The number of our libraries has exceeded 50. In those libraries, we offer children the opportunity to love books and develop themselves. We are opening book cafes. We are opening book cafes on our ferries, in our areas and in our cultural centers. While people are sitting and drinking their coffee, they have the opportunity to benefit from the books, to touch the book, to learn and to change with what they have learned.”
“We will continue to support for easier transportation”
Referring to the Fair İzmir, where the fair was held, Deputy Chairman Özuslu said, “This area is Turkey's largest and most modern fairground. It was made with the own resources of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality. İZFAŞ organized 30 fairs here last year. We organize many fairs that have a say in the world, such as the Marble Fair in this field. Last year, we held the İZKİTAP Book Fair in this area and hundreds of thousands of book lovers visited. We used to hold the TÜYAP İzmir Book Fair at Kültürpark in previous years. It was interrupted due to the pandemic. Since we moved our municipality building to the halls in Kültürpark due to the Izmir earthquake, we took the book fair to Fair Izmir. As in all our fairs, we are increasing the frequency of voyages for transportation to Fair İzmir in this fair, and we organize special voyages from different points of the city.
“Hanging Book for Earthquake Zone”
Expressing that he believes that book lovers from Izmir will give great support to the “Suspended Book” campaign organized within the scope of the fair, Mustafa Özuslu said, “We hope that our children can get rid of the psychological effects of the earthquake a little bit, thanks to books. We, as the municipality, provide services to our children with our child development specialists and psychologists, and we bring books. I congratulate the organizers of this campaign, you will see that the people of Izmir will give great support to this campaign," he said.
Over 25 million visitors in 6 years
TÜYAP Fairs Production Inc. General Manager İlhan Ersözlü also noted that they hosted more than 25 million visitors in 6 years with the fair. Veysel Çolak, the honorary writer of the fair, thanked the book lovers who followed the call of the book and said, “I have written 25 poetry books, I also have works on poetry theory. Society without poetry is incomplete. A person without poetry is lonely,” he said.
The fair will last until March 19
The fair, which will last until 19 March 2023, can be visited between 10.00 and 19.00. There are stands of nearly 300 publishing houses, public institutions and non-governmental organizations at the fair. Within the scope of the fair, there are nearly 150 cultural events and many autograph sessions, reader-writer meetings. Readers who want to participate in the “Hanging Book” campaign organized in cooperation with TÜYAP Fairs Group and Turkish Publishers Association will be able to support the campaign by leaving a book they have purchased in the boxes in the fairground and in the hall.
The literary wind will blow
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality organizes "Towards Izmir Unesco Literature City: Literature-Cinema Meeting" within the scope of the fair. In the event organized in cooperation with TÜYAP, İZFAŞ and the Intercultural Art Association, films adapted from works of literature in Turkish cinema will be screened, and interviews will be held with the participation of writers, directors and critics. Within the scope of the “Literature-Cinema Meeting”, this year, in addition to Orhan Kemal, Rıfat Ilgaz and Haldun Taner, two writers from İzmir, Attila İlhan and Necati Cumalı, and the master directors of our cinema Atıf Yılmaz, Yılmaz Güney, Erden Kıral, Tunç Başaran and Yusuf Kurçenli will be commemorated. There will be a talk at 15.00 after a movie that will be screened at Seminar Hall-A at 17.00 every day during the fair.
Transportation support from ESHOT
On the other hand, ESHOT General Directorate is from Fuar İzmir for easier access of visitors to the fair; Üçyol Metro (92), Gaziemir District Garage (610) and Balçova (650) increased the number of connecting lines. In addition, the Lausanne Square-Fair İzmir line 540 was put into service for the first time.
