Turkish publisher: "If we do not produce paper ourselves, we cannot get out of the crisis"

- All publishers state about a paper crisis in the country, and if a reasonable solution is not found, publishing books will have great difficulties. What has happened?

- After the establishment of the republic due to targeted investments, Turkey, basically, could provide the country's needs for paper. One of the strategic spheres that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk attached the greatest importance in the aspect of strengthening our independence was the production of paper. Despite the fact that during the World War II there were some problems in this area, it can be said that before the 1980s our publishers and newspaper offices did not face serious difficulties in securing paper.

After the coup d'état of September 12, 1980, the neoliberal policies pursued in the economy adversely affected the production of paper; and after the AKP came into power in 2002, the paper-making factories closed and the new ones were not opened. And the depreciation of the Turkish lira by 40% in August against foreign currencies made even harder the import of paper. However, the government did not take the necessary measures. So now many of our publishers abstain from releasing books.

It is interesting that Necmettin Erbakan, the leader of the current "National Vision" ("Milli Görüş"), being a member of the coalition governments of the 1970s, did everything possible to open paper factories, and representatives of the current authorities - his pupils - closed them and The land under them was given to construction companies. Our situation is very deplorable: the government has restricted even the import of paper. If you do not take radical measures, it will be impossible to overcome this crisis in publishing books.

- Do you think the government will show the initiative to reopen paper mills?

- "Even if the government understands that as a result of neo-liberal policies it created a crisis in very important areas, it is still impossible to build plants in a short time and it is impossible to start producing paper. Since, even if today lay the foundation of the plant, it can start producing paper only after 4-5 years. Today, in order to overcome the current situation, along with stimulating paper production, radical steps must be taken. The government knows very well the problems that exist in this area. Therefore, I believe that the necessary measures will be taken in the coming days. Otherwise, the problem of the refusal of many publishers, especially small and medium-sized ones, from publishing books will continue to be relevant.

- How does this crisis affect you, the largest private publishing house in Turkey? Have there been any changes in the publishing plans?

- "We foresaw that there would be a crisis, so we had a certain amount of paper in advance. But this will be enough for only a few months. But after all, different publishers have different possibilities. And what to do, publishers who could not buy paper in advance? Will they be forced to suspend their work? On the other hand, our reserves will soon run out. But if a heavy devaluation and other economic factors have increased the cost price of printing by 100%, then it is not the publishers who are to blame for this. The government had to take the necessary measures in advance so that we could purchase paper at a normal price.

- As the media reported, at the end of this month you will publish a book by Yılmaz Özdilin "Mustafa Kemal" with a circulation of 1.5 million copies, what could not be done, for example, in Soviet times. Or maybe you are not affected by the crisis?

- The book of Yilmaz Ozdilin will be a 1000th book published for the 10th anniversary of our activity. More than half of the Turkish society was convinced that the more our republic departs from the "basic criteria," the more the problems the country faces. Today's fashionable concepts of "local and national" have acquired significance precisely thanks to the policy pursued by Atatürk.

Ataturk understood that the main condition for our freedom is the independence of our economy from foreign countries, and therefore he created many state enterprises of strategic importance. We see and believe that with time, Turkey understands Atatürk better and better. We are sure that the book of Yılmaz Ozdilin "Mustafa Kemal" will be highly appreciated by the society.

- In your interviews, you talked about the desire to establish ties with Azerbaijan and have common business. Are there any initiatives?

- Violation of the balance in the world encourages us, above all, to cooperate with countries that we consider very close. From this point of view, Azerbaijan occupies a special a place in our hearts because we are the same nation. As you know, only in Istanbul our publishing house has six large shops, a storage area of ​​40 thousand square meters, a company for the wholesale sale of books. Cooperating with the People's Republic of China, we publish a magazine called "The International Silk Road. We are ready to cooperate with all the Turkic republics. But once again I stress that Azerbaijan is very, very dear to us! We are ready for discussions with all who we can cooperate with!