London Book Fair opens doors to visitors

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LONDON (AA) - April 15, 2013 - The London Book Fair 2013 opened doors to visitors on Monday.

Turkey has been designated as the Market Focus partner of The London Book Fair 2013.

As in past years, the Market Focus programme will be supported by an exciting series of public events across the UK featuring visiting Turkish authors curated by the British Council, the UK's leading cultural relations organization.

The London fair is being attended by Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Omer Celik, the UK Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries Ed Vaizey, Senior Executive Director of The London Book Fair Jacks Thomas, and many writers including Adalet Agaoglu, Ayse Kulin, Dogan Hizlan, Ahmet Umit, Elif Safak and Inci Aral.

Turkish flags have been hoisted at the fair taking place at Earl's Court and Turkey has the largest stand at the fair as the Market Focus partner with an area of 650 square meters. Aside from Turkish writers, around 30 publishers are also attending the London fair.

Speaking at the fair, Minister Omer Celik underlined that those British lovers of literature will have a chance to understand the multi-cultural, colorful and deep structure of the Turkish culture and literature at the Earl's Court.

Inaugurating the Turkish stand at the fair, Celik stressed that Turkey was a symbol country in the world with its plural cultural roots.

Turkey's cosmopolitan structure is its great treasure with which everyone is proud of, Celik noted.

Today, what is most needed in the world is dialogue between cultures, Celik stated.

"We have come here to unite Turkish literature and Ottoman poetry with the rest of the world. This is a gathering where we meet the world," Celik said.

-Minister Celik presents a replica of the map of Piri Reis to Minister Vaizey-

Minister Vaizey, in his part, said that Turkey was a crucial country in the global stage.

A country's identity could be understood by its culture, Vaizey stated.

"With this fair, we would like the British people to reach Turkey's contemporary culture. Turkey is an important partner for the United Kingdom," Vaizey stressed.

Reminding that Istanbul was a candidate to host the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, Vaizey underlined that they were ready to share London's experiences in Olympics if Istanbul won the bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

Senior Executive Director of The London Book Fair, Jacks Thomas said that she was pleased to see Turkey as this year's Market Focus partner and wished for a successful fair.

Attending the fair, author Elif Safak said that it was crucial for writers to hear what could not be spoken in a society just as much as what was spoken.

"Arts speak a different language than politics. I believe that artists can reach places which politicians can not," Safak noted.

Stressing the importance of freedom of expression and thought, Safak said that most of the people who read novels in Turkey were women.

"We need to talk about how much women's voice gets reflected on literature, cultural life and politics. I believe that it is our task to understand a society with their voices and silence," Safak emphasized.

Following the speeches, Minister Celik presented Minister Vaizey a replica of the map of Piri Reis.

"Mr. Vaizey is now holding the replica of a 500-year-old map drawn by Piri Reis," Celik stressed.

Vaizey, in return, presented a book on British creativity to Celik.

Minister Celik later was given a tour of the fair and received information from the fair's officials.

The London Book Fair will end on April 17.