Turkey donates 10,000 books to Kazakhstan

By Aliia Raimbekova

NUR-SULTAN (AA) - Turkey's Professional Organization of Authors of Intellectual and Artistic Works (ILESAM) on Monday donated 10,000 Turkish books to the libraries in Kazakhstan.

As part of book donation project to Turkic world libraries, ILESAM in cooperation with Turkey's Culture and Tourism Ministry and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) organized a books handover ceremony at the National Library of Kazakhstan.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mehmet Nuri Parmaksiz, head of ILESAM, said that the donated books are of various categories, including novels, poetry, sociology, law, encyclopedia, anthology, cultural art works, history, art, science and technical field.

He said that half of the books will be distributed to the libraries of the capital Nur-Sultan, while another 5,000 books will be delivered to libraries in Almaty city, Kazakhstan's largest metropolis, and Hoca Ahmet Yesevi International Turkish-Kazakh University.

"The book is the strongest bridge between countries in terms of language, culture and literature," Parmaksiz added.

Parmaksiz recalled that under book donation project, 15,000 books were given to Azerbaijan last year, adding that ILESAM will distribute another 10,000 books in Kyrgyzstan this week.

He said that the Turkish organization would also be glad to receive books from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan to Turkey.

Evren Rutbil, TIKA's coordinator in Nur-Sultan, also appreciated TIKA’s support on delivery of the books from Turkey to Kazakhstan.

Established in April 1986, ILESAM's main function is to protect the substantive and moral rights of owners’ works of science and literature.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev from Ankara.