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New Istanbul bookstore-cafe focuses on Arab culture, refugee experience

A small group of Syrian intellectuals has founded a bookstore-cafe in Istanbul, hoping to bridge cultures and promote Arab refugees' rich literary and cultural heritage.
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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.

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