Nizar Kara: Similarity of Tehran Book Fair slogan & Turkish pavilion /Culture; Solving political issues between countries

1402/02/26-10:41

Nizar Kara from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the director of the publications department at the Turkish pavilion said to Exhibition news headquarters that if many foreign publishers attend Tehran Book Fair and buy and sell copyrights, this issue will have a great impact on the future of the Tehran Book Fair.

The text of the interview follows:

What is your assessment of the 34th Tehran International Book Fair?

Everyone knows that Tehran Book Fair is one of the biggest international fairs that we attend every year with great enthusiasm.

This year is the sixth time that I have attended the book fair, while 6 publishers from Turkey are present at the fair.

What do you think about the copyright exchange?

This year, our goal is to exchange rights between Turkish and Iranian publishers. In the past years, we were present on behalf of the Turkish Ministry of Culture.

 But this year, the difference is that we have brought six publishers, some of whom are present at the exhibition, and some of them will come to Tehran after the 2023 Turkish presidential election to exchange ideas with Iranian publishers in this field.

We have sent a list to Iranian publishers to negotiate and conclude contracts for copyright, sale and purchase.

How can exhibitions like Tehran Book Fair help publishers to expand their businesses?

If the exchange of rights between Turkish and Iranian publishers is done, this issue can help the development of Iranian and Turkish businesses and help the parties economically.

If this happens in Iran and Turkey fairs, our fairs will be specialized like the Frankfurt book fair where only publishers and editors are present.

Therefore, if many foreign publishers attend the Tehran Book Fair and buy and sell copyrights, this issue will be very influential for the future of the Tehran Book Fair.

What is the role of books in cultural diplomacy and the development of cultural relations between countries?

If the political relations between the two countries are not favorable, this does not mean the publishers will not cooperate with each other regarding cultural issues. We have shared our cultural content in the region.

 For example, if there are problems related to diplomacy and political issues between Turkey and the UAE, when we visited this country, there was no shortage of cultural measures.

Culture is always a way to solve political problems between countries, because if people get to know each other's culture and become attracted to each other, this issue can solve political problems between countries.

What is the effect of Turkish presidential election on the cultural relations between Iran and Turkey?

Since the past, Iran and Turkey have tried to have good relations in the fields of economy, politics and culture. Therefore, whoever the Turkish people elect as president, this issue will have a good and positive effect on the relations between the two countries, especially cultural issues.

What joint programs has the Ministry of Culture of Turkey considered in order to develop relations with Iran? Will a book fair be held in Turkey in the future so that Iran can also participate?

Two years ago, we collaborated with Iran in the form of a book translation workshop from Turkish to Persian and vice versa. This was a project that was a good cooperation between the two countries.

The presence of Istanbul publishers in the Tehran Book Fair, as well as the participation of Iranian publishers in our exhibitions, is a sign of joint plans. We have a project called "TEDA" for Iranian publishers who translate Turkish books into Persian.

So far, 201 books have been translated from Turkish to Persian by 38 Iranian publishers through this project.

 Iran has also provided the possibility for Turkish publishers to translate and publish books from Persian to Turkish, and we have good and favorable relations with Iranian organizations.

An interesting point that I want to mention is that this year, the slogan of the Tehran Book Fair is "reading the future" and our slogan at Turkey pavillon is "read Turkey". This issue shows the similarity between Iranian and Turkish culture.

The 34th Tehran International Book Fair with the slogan “the future is to be read” started on the 10th of May and will continue until the 20th of May 2023 in the Mosque of Imam Khomeini and simultaneously on ketab.ir.