Bookstore owners as well as publishers are experiencing financial challenges across Turkey, writes Bianet.

Robinson Crusoe Bookstore, a 19 year old establishment in the heart of Istiklal Caddesi, declared that they were experiencing really heavy finance problems due to high costs and rent.

A few weeks ago Librairie de Péra, a 93 year old bookstore and auction house in Galata district has silently closed its shutters.

The challenges bookstores across Turkey are facing are shared by many bookstores in the world and are not peculiar to the Turkish context. A recently passed bill in France aims to protect independent bookstores against the threatening presence of Amazon. The bill brought limitations to Amazon’s delivery policy, blocking the internet giant’s free delivery options as well as free delivery for the purchased item.

Bianet interviewed Publishers’ Union Chairperson Metin Celal regarding the challenges faced by bookstore owners and the France example.   

Celal said that no protection measures for bookstores have been taken by officials, urging them to take such action immediately. He also added that massive supermarket or internet sale campaign also affected the business negatively.

“In European countries like France, there are ‘fixed price’ laws to protect publishers as well as small businesses. In 2009, National Congress of Publishing Union took a similar recommendation to officials, however, we haven’t observed any progress.”

Celal went on saying that “few good-intentioned steps” affected the bookstores negatively. "Even though free textbook policy has been implemented within social state mentality - he said - officials disregarded its negative impacts on bookstore owners”.

He reminded that “10,000 bookstores have been closed. Most of these stores were established nearby schools and they were making a living by selling stationary and books to students. If those books were distributed to students through these bookstores, students would explore other buying alternatives. Maybe the stores would not be closed that way.”