Istanbul, January 29 – The 11th International Istanbul Publishing Fellowship (Istanbul Publishing Fellowship) is poised to gather publishers from around the globe in Istanbul, Turkey. Scheduled to take place from February 10-12 at the Taş Yapı Event and Congress Area, the event will host 335 publishers, including 225 international and 110 local participants from 73 countries.
Istanbul: A New Hub for Global Publishing
The details of the program, supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and organized by the Turkish Printing and Publishing Professional Association (TBYM), were announced at a press conference held at the Taşyapı Event and Congress Center in Şişli. Melike Günyüz, a member of the Istanbul Publishing Fellowship Coordination Board, highlighted a critical perspective on the European-centric publishing approach.
“In a world where Europe considers itself the center of culture, especially with its visa policies, we have managed to bring together an Uzbek publisher with a Mexican publisher by making Turkey a copyright center. For this reason, the Istanbul Fellowship Program is currently on the agendas of all publishers worldwide. It offers a democratic and inclusive environment, shifting the publishing route away from the European center,” Günyüz stated.
Direct Negotiation of Copyrights
Sümeyra İnanç, Project Coordinator of the Istanbul Publishing Fellowship, emphasized that the organization is more than just a fair or meeting. “It is an international platform that offers a professional and qualified collaboration area where publishers can directly negotiate copyrights,” İnanç explained.
Mehmet Burhan Genç, President of TBYM, noted that the Istanbul Publishing Fellowship is Turkey’s first content market and the only one of its kind in the cultural sector. “Our main goal is to bring works written in Turkish to world languages and for Istanbul to become a copyright market, center, and focal point,” Genç said. He further revealed that since 2016, over 35,000 bilateral meetings have been held, and more than 25,000 preliminary agreements have been signed within the program’s framework.
Promoting Turkish Literature and Culture
Münir Üstün, a Board Member of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO), mentioned İTO’s participation in numerous international book fairs to promote Turkish literature. He highlighted that Copyright Awards are presented to publishers who sell the most works within the organization. “We are telling the story of these lands to the world,” Üstün remarked.
Üstün also pointed out the Media Match section, created to identify works adaptable to the cinema and TV series industry, where publishers and producers are brought together.
Indonesia: This Year’s Focus Country
This year, Indonesia has been designated as the focus country, with 10 publishing houses from the nation expected to participate. Halil Çelik, President of the Press and Publishing Association, noted that Turkish literature, particularly religious publishing, finds a significant resonance in markets like Indonesia. He added that hundreds of works have been exported as a result of discussions with countries designated as focus countries in previous years.
“In Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, Islamic publishing is an important part of social and cultural life. This situation makes it possible for publications on Turkish literature, Islamic thought, biography of the Prophet, Sufism, Ottoman history, and values education to find a natural response in the Indonesian market,” Çelik elaborated.
The 11th International Istanbul Publishing Fellowship underscores Istanbul’s growing influence in the global publishing industry, aiming to foster diverse collaborations and promote a wider range of literary voices on the international stage.
