Turkey's most anticipated annual book fair has kicked off with the participation of Hungarian and Turkish government officials Saturday in Istanbul's Beylikduzu district.
This year, the 33rd International Istanbul Book Fair will witness over 850 publishers from all over the world, plus panels, seminars and workshops among a total of 270 activities.
Speaking at the ceremony, Zoltan Balog, the minister of human resources of Hungary -- the fair's guest of honor -- said that the translation of books between Turkish and Hungarian and book fairs connect the two cultures.
"Many of you might not have chance to go to Hungary but the Hungarian books that visitors buy will be an invitation to our country. They will see centuries-old friendship betweenTurkey and Hungary," he added.
Hungarian pavilion at the international book fair will host the country's leading writers such as Peter Esterhazy, Laszlo Darvas and Dora Csanyi, Katalin Szegedi.
Also delivering a speech at the ceremony, Turkish movie critic and this year's honorary writer of the fair, Atilla Dorsay, said that "being the honorary writer is very important for me not only because it is the 100th year of the Turkish cinema but Turkey made huge progress this year in many areas like cinema, literature and music."
The TUYAP Fair in Istanbul's Beylikduzu district will run with the theme of '100 years of Turkish cinema' in celebration of the centennial of Turkish cinema industry.
The fair includes a large number of interviews, panels, music recitals and exhibitions that witness the century-long journey of cinema in Turkey.
The book fair also will bring together 40 foreign writers and scriptwriters such as Polish author Janusz Glowacki, movie critic and history writer Philip Kemp and novelist Tess Gerritsen.
Publications by The Anadolu Agency will also be on show.
From the 'Anadolu Agency Was There' series will be: "The Orphaned Nation: Syria"; "The Incomplete Revolution: Egypt" and; "War, Blockade, Resistance: Gaza."
The fair can be visited between 10.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. every day until November 16. As in previous years, the fair will be free for students and teachers, while the entrance for other visitors will be 5 Turkish Lira.
