Latest News #267– Turkey
January 8, 2003

Bible Society in Turkey rises to challenges of bookfair season

Although the bookfair held at the CNR Fair Center, near to the Ataturk International Airport, from October 10 to 19, 2003 was not centrally located, some 300 book dealers attended the fair. Many schools also organised trips to the fair where they had the opportunity to visit the stall of the Bible Society in Turkey. Istanbul, Turkey. Photo: BS Turkey (TUR04DJ-1.JPG)

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Policemen, librarians, book dealers, teachers, secondary school children and university students were among the many people with whom staff from the Bible Society in Turkey came into contact through their participation in three bookfairs during October and November. This time of year is the prime bookfair season in Turkey and consequently a very important time for the Bible Society, which uses the fairs as an opportunity to make the Scriptures available to people of many different backgrounds. As in previous years, reactions from visitors to the Bible Society's presence were mixed (see World Report 374/28 and 367/35).

Eager students surrounded the Bible Society stand at the Grupmedya bookfair in Besiktas, the cultural district of Istanbul, on October 4 to 12. They were particularly keen to view the Jesus film, and there were some anguished reactions to the scene in which Jesus is crucified. One person who bought a New Testament was a policeman. He and a colleague were offered a Scripture calendar, and while his colleague handed it back, he kept it and later returned alone to make his purchase. A woman who was passing by the stand with her husband was less fortunate, however. He forbade her to buy a Bible, so "she left, very unhappy as she lost a very valuable thing," according to Distribution Officer Behnan Konutgan.

The largest and most well-known bookfair in Turkey is the Tuyap Bookfair, which took place from October 25 to November 2 in 2003 at the new fair center in Beylikduzu. Visitors went to the stall of the Bible Society in Turkey to find information about the Bible and others to ask more general questions about the Christian faith. Istanbul, Turkey. Photo: BS Turkey (TUR04DJ-2.JPG)

Bible Society staff had very similar experiences at the other large fairs they attended: one at the CNR Fair Center close to the international airport on October 10 to 19 and the other, organised by the Tüyap Fair Company, at the congress centre in Beylikdüzü on October 25 to November 2. Visitors who attended the CNR fair were rather more cautious about the Bible Society than those at the Grupmedya fair. Only a handful attended the screening of the Jesus film, leaving afterwards without comment, but the few who came to a seminar given by a Bible Society representative asked some challenging questions which betrayed genuine interest.

It was a similar story of mixed reactions at the Tüyap bookfair. Here, two teachers of religious education were eager to buy Bibles for use by their students, while Bible Society staff were happy to give Bibles free of charge to a school director, a librarian and some university students. Once again, however, staff were challenged by some difficult questions from people of other faiths. "We tried to always be nice to these people and answer their questions," says Mr Konutgan.