Turkish Ambassador hosts literary reception celebrating Indo-Turkish cultural ties.
The New Delhi World Book Fair served as the setting for a unique literary event honouring cultural exchange between India and Turkey on January 14, 2026, bringing together the two countries’ longstanding literary traditions. The special event, hosted at the home of H.E. Ali Murat Ersoy, the Republic of Turkey’s ambassador to India, highlighted the two ancient civilisations’ mutual respect for language, storytelling, and the written word.About 60 esteemed attendees attended the event, including prominent publishers, well-known writers, literary critics, and cultural leaders from both nations. Turkish publishing houses, including Nobel Publications, Nar Publications, Epsilon Publications, Metamorfoz Publications, Literatür Publications, FOM Publications, A7 Publications, Kelime Publications, and Yumurcak Publications, were represented at the World Book Fair, providing a chance to interact with Indian counterparts and investigate potential publishing partnerships. The guests were greeted by Ambassador Ersoy and Mrs. Fazilet Ersoy, who created a welcoming and inclusive environment that demonstrated the strong cultural ties between India and Turkey.
“Literature has always been a profound bridge between civilisations, transcending borders and fostering understanding between people,” stated H.E. Ali Murat Ersoy in a statement on the occasion. We commemorate not only the written word but also the common ideals, age old knowledge, and rich storytelling legacy that bind our two great countries together as we come together this evening to celebrate the literary traditions of India and Turkey. We are strengthening the friendships that have bonded our peoples for generations by allowing Turkish and Indian readers to discover each other’s literary riches through cultural exchanges like the New Delhi World Book Fair.
Representatives from the Republic of Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism gave an overview of the TEDA Translation Support Program, a significant project that has been supporting Turkish literature internationally since 2005. 1,076 publishers have benefited from the program, and 4,599 works in 66 languages across 99 nations have been translated. TEDA has supported 41 publishing houses in India and made it possible for 191 works written by 89 Turkish authors to be translated into Indian languages, such as Bengali, Hindi, English, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, and Urdu.
Director of Antonym Publications Biswadip Chakraborty also presented Bearing Witness to the Age, a collection of chosen poems by famous Turkish poet Behçet Necatigil, translated by Neil P. Doherty and Gökçenur Ç. and illustrated by Sarbani Dasgupta. He also discussed ongoing translation initiatives. Generations of readers and authors in Turkey and beyond are still influenced by Necatigil’s literary legacy, which includes poetry, essays, translations, and anthologies.
