ISTANBUL — According to UN statistics, more than 4 million Syrians have now fled the protracted war and become refugees in the neighboring countries of Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees expects the total number of refugees from Syria to exceed 4.27 million by the end of 2015. 

Turkey has become the biggest host of refugees in the world. Syrians make up 45% of the total number of refugees in the country. As the number of Syrians in Turkey, especially Istanbul, increases, a group of Syrian intellectuals has sought to revive the Syrian cultural scene and create a platform for cultural exchange between Arabs and Turks. In this context, the first major Arabic bookstore in Istanbul was inaugurated in June under the name of Pages, or Safahat in Arabic.

Samer Qadri, a Syrian painter and one of the founders of the bookstore and cafe, told Al-Monitor, “Pages aims to be the first Arab cultural platform in Turkey to allow cultural exchange between Arabs, Turks and all other nationalities, given Istanbul’s central location and the fact that it attracts tourists from various countries.”

Pages displays books in Arabic, English, French and Turkish. Qadri said, “The bookstore was founded by four people: three Syrians and a Jordanian friend. We decided to open up a bookstore in Istanbul and personally funded it in the hope it will represent a fresh Arab cultural facade to contribute to the spreading of Arabic and translated books, as well as organizing lectures and cultural and artistic events to reflect the Arab refugee experiences, Syrians’ in particular.”