The 5th İstanbul Publishing Fellowship Program Took Place with Broad Participation

The 5th İstanbul Publishing Fellowship Program supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, organized by Turkish Press and Publishers Copyrights and Licencing Society, was taken place in the Grand Cevahir Hotel and Convention Center at 3-4-5 March 2020. Thanks to this program, a lot of publishers from all of the world met in İstanbul.
 
The program that brings together in İstanbul the publishers from all the world, aims to arrange the copyright meetings amongst publishers. Every year the program which is attracted by more publishers , hosted a record number of publishers this year. editors, the agencies of copyrights and the represents of the publishing house from all of the world found opportunities to meet  B2B meetings for three days in this program.



İstanbul Governorship, Turkish Airlines, Association of Press and Publishers, İstanbul Chamber of Commerce, Zeytinburnu Municipality, Sultanbeyli Municipality, Üsküdar Municipality, DEKMEB, and Albayrak Media also sponsored to the program. Owing to the program, participants made a deal over a thousand.


 
The Opening Ceremony of the program was taken place in the Grand Cevahir and Convention Center on 3 March 2020.


 
Prof. Dr. İskender Pala who is Vice President of the Cultural and Art Policy Board of the Presidency and writer, Hülya Kaya who is Vice Governor of İstanbul Governorship, Coşkun Yılmaz who is Istanbul Provincial Culture and Tourism Manager, İsrafil Kuralay who is Vice President of İstanbul Chamber of Commerce, Münir Üstün who is Member of Board of ICOC and President of YAYFED, Rıdvan Duran who is General Manager of Press Advertisement Association, Emrah Kısakürek who is President of Association of Press and Publishers and many publishers participated in the opening ceremony. 


 
After the welcome speech of Esra Ceceli who is TURCA Genel Coordinator, President of Turkish Press and Publishers Copyrights and Licencing Society Mustafa Doğru made a speech about the İstanbul Fellowship Program. He said in his speech that every year, the İstanbul Publishing Fellowship Program throws together the publishers from all of the worlds.


 
İstanbul suits very well with books.  Also, books suit very well to İstanbul
 
Mr. Doğru said in her speech that the program was held in 2016 for the first time in order to make Istanbul a copyright center. And also he continued his words that İstanbul suits very well with books, also books suit very well to İstanbul. He emphasized the importance of publishers meeting in Istanbul, the capital of culture, art and science for centuries.


 
265 Publishers from 65 Countries
 
He said that 620 publishers from 98 countries made application to participate in the program. This year, 165 publishers from 65 countries and 100 publishers from Turkey participated in the program. We worked to supply the needs of the publishers. We plan to hold more than three thousand B2B meetings for 3 days.


 
After the speech of Mustafa Doğru, Prof. Dr. İskender Pala who is Vice President of the Cultural and Art Policy Board of the Presidency and writer realized a speech.  Mr. Pala said that İstanbul was the source of inspiration for the writers. You are here to convey this inspiration to your civilization while today you speak of the books which have been written about İstanbul.


 
Just Feel İstanbul
 
Pala who touched on the importance of İstanbul for the literature world and writers continued to his speech with these sentences. “You came to İstanbul. No doubt, you will make B2B meetings and deals. Besides these,  if this city can touch your heart, if you can see the historical and lyrical beauty of this city, in this case, give up your tasks! Just feel İstanbul!”


 
Following the speech of Prof. Dr. İskender Pala, Coşkun Yılmaz who is Istanbul Provincial Culture and Tourism Manager was invited to the stage.
 
Turkey is a big country in cultural meaning
 
Coşkun Yılmaz said in his speech that İstanbul is a unique city in the meaning of historical depth, of the central location in the world. Especially, the international cultural activity just like this program is very important and meaningful in this city which was the hope of humanity and the home of oppressed persons in crisis periods.


 
Mr. Yılmaz said that Turkey supports all activities realized on culture, information, and ideas. Also, Turkey made big moves in the culture field during recent years. He underlined that the İstanbul Publishing Fellowship Program is a big move to develop Turkish literature, cultural progress. He said in his speech that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism will continue to support the cultural projects. He thanked the institutions and associations which support this program.


 
After the speech of Coşkun Yılmaz, İsrafil Kuralay who is Vice President of İstanbul Chamber of Commerce was invited to the stage. İsrafil Kuralay firstly said that he honored to host the participants in İstanbul which is the pearl of the world.


 
A very important economic activity
 
In the continuation of his speech, İsrafil Kuralay who is Vice President underlined that İstanbul Publishing Fellowship Program brings together the publishers from all world. We are aware of how important the cultural economy is for a country and a city. We would want that İstanbul can be a center for the copyright market. On this subject, we will give all of the kinds of support as İstanbul Chamber of Commerce.


 
He added that the İstanbul Chamber of Commerce has signed more than 3 thousand works in 130 years. And also he said that the İstanbul Chamber of Commerce is both a publisher and represents the publishers. We are signing a very important economic activity which contributes both introduce the important Turkish books and sell - buy the copyrights.



First Day Program (3 March, Tuesday)
 
After the opening ceremony of the program, the seminar named International Journey of Turkish Literature and Publishing started. To this seminar directed by Dr. Muhammed Ağırakça, participated Prof. Dr. iskender Pala (writer), Münir Üstün (YAYFED President) and Emrah Kısakürek (President of Association of Press and Publishers) as a speaker.


 
After the seminar coordinated by İstanbul Publishing Fellowship Program, Turkish and foreign publishers brought together. Following the B2B meetings, they signed the pre-agreements of copyrights.


 
Goal: 100 Countries, 500 Publishers
 
On the first day evening, the gala dinner which was hosted by Istanbul Governor Mr. Ali Yerlikaya organized in Radisson Blu Hotel. Mr. Yerlikaya called for the authorized persons of TBYM who organized the İstanbul Publishing Fellowship Program in his speech. He said that the goal of the program for the next year should be 100 countries, 500 publishers. He added that İstanbul Governorship is ready to give support to achieve the aim.


 
At the same time, İstanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya and TBYM President Mustafa Doğru presented a plaque to ICOC Vice President İsrafil Kuralay, to Sultanbeyli Municipality Mayor Hüseyin Keskin, to DEKMEB President Mustafa Altundal, to Guadalajara Book Fair Coordinator Rubén Padilla Cortes and to Arab Publishers Association General Secretary Bachar Chebaro.


 
Second Day Program (4 March Wednesday)
 
On the second day of the program, the seminar named The Position of Women Entrepreneurs and Managers in Publishing Industry and Culture started. To this seminar directed by Esra Ceceli (TURCA General Coordinator), participated Fatoş Altunç (Ministry of Culture and Tourism Copyrights Vice President), Dr. Shereen Kreidieh (Asala Publishing Manager), Gigi Ishmael (The Ishmael Tree Manager) and Dr. Melike Günyüz (Erdem Yayınları Representative) as a speaker.


 
Fatoş Altunç said in her speech that the "İstanbul Publishing Fellowship Program is a very important organization both to bring together different people from the business world and the cultural world. She added that the event, which provides opportunities for cross-border collaborations, will also provide important contributions for Istanbul to become a copyright center and the development of the publishing world.


  
Firstly, Gigi Ishmael, the representative of New York-based The Ishmael Tree Publishing House, said that people should see the women who are the base of this sector. She added that women are included in many different sectors and also the diversities in the publishing sector are very important.


 
Shereen Kreidieh, the representative of Lebanon based Asala Publishing, said that the writers in Arab world are mostly women. She talked about publishing activities in the Arab country and the problems they faced while publishing in the Arab world.


 
Dr. Melike Günyüz, the representative of Erdem Publishing, said that In Turkey, the children's books usually are bought by teachers and the content of these books is determined by the teachers. So, they are women. If we let move the women reader in the world,  there is nothing left to publish. If you let move the women publishers, There is no one to produce content. She added that the publishing sector will have difficulty in the case of if women are taken out of the sector.


 
Following these speeches, TBYM President presented a plaque to Fatoş Altunç, Gigi Ishmael, Shreen Kreidieh and Melike Günyüz.


 
After the seminar, Turkish and foreign publishers brought together. Following the B2B meetings, they signed the pre-agreements of copyrights.


 
At the evening of the same day, with the host of İstanbul Chamber of Commerce, Münir Üstün, who is a member of the board of directors of İstanbul Chamber of Commerce, has hosted our participants at Cemile Sultan Korusu. Mustafa Doğru (President of TBYM) presented the certificate of appreciation to Münir Üstün with all due deference to him supports.


 
Third Day Program (5 March  Thursday)
 
On the third day of the program, the publishers find the opportunity to meet B2B meetings and sell - buy the copyrights all day.


 
On the same day evening, to introduce the beauties of İstanbul the Bosporus Tour was organized. The participants who were happy on the tour took a lot of photos to remember this beautiful day.


 
The İstanbul Publishing Fellowship Program which contributes to introducing Turkish publishing;  is raising its goal every year. It is being the source of inspiration for Middle East Countries. It is attracting the participants from Latin America to the Far East. Thanks to this program, İstanbul was an essential city for these publishers from all over the world.


 
The İstanbul Publishing Fellowship Program is aimed to be one of the prestigious organizations of the world in the field of the publishing sector during the next years.


 
They have  a tree in Turkey
 
The İstanbul Publishing Fellowship Program surprised the participants this year. It planted a tree on behalf of every participant name to Elazığ which were affected by the earthquake. 313 trees were planted to the Memorial Forest in Elazığ - Bademli. Thus, the İstanbul Publishing Fellowship Program participants have a tree in Turkey owing to this program.



In the 5th İstanbul Publishing Fellowship Program, the certificate of participation and the certificate of the tree was presented to the participants and was taken a souvenir photo with them.