Ankara, August 10 (QNA) - The 11th edition of the Istanbul International Arabic Book Fair in Turkey will open on Aug. 15, featuring 300 publishing houses from 30 Arab and foreign countries.

Running through Aug. 23, the fair will feature a daily cultural program comprising three to four events, including seminars, lectures and intellectual discussions, as well as book-signing sessions, poetry evenings and artistic activities.

The program will also include dedicated spaces focusing on intellectual property rights and educational institutions, in addition to a cultural exchange forum between the Arabic and Turkish languages.

The forum will bring together writers, academics, publishers and artists, further strengthening the fair’s role as a platform connecting the publishing industry with the cultural scenes of Turkey and the Arab world.

The first edition of the Istanbul International Arabic Book Fair was held in 2016, with the participation of 170 publishing houses from 15 Arab countries, in addition to Turkey, Iran and Italy.

In the years that followed, the fair developed into an annual event for the Arabic publishing industry in Turkey and a platform for interaction among Arab and Turkish publishers, readers and cultural institutions.

The fair targets the millions of Arabs living in Turkey, as well as people of Arab origin and those who speak Arabic, seeking to promote the Arabic language in Turkey and strengthen cultural ties between Arabs and Turks. (QNA)