The Kocaeli Book Fair, the biggest in Turkey, is open at the International Fair Center until May 24. Speaking at a press conference at the Sekapark Hotel, General Secretary of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Associate Professor Tahir Büyükakın said, "The book fair that we have been organizing for the last seven years has contributed to Kocaeli's identity. It is time for trees to blossom books again. We expect a record attendance to the seventh Kocaeli Book Fair." General Secretary assistants Gökmen Mengüç and Feyzullah Okumuş, President of the Bureau of Media, Publications and Public Relations Raşit Fidan, President of the Bureau of Culture and Social Affairs Ali Yeşildal, Vice chancellor of Kocaeli University Professor Bekir Çakır, Provincial Director of National Education Fehmi Rasim Çelik and the President of the Student Council of Kocaeli University Metin Geldeş accompanied by General Secretary Professor Büyükakın attended the opening ceremony.Büyükakın said that the Kocaeli Book Fair welcomes a record number of visitors every year and continued, "The spring has come for books in Kocaeli. Qualified man power is the real source of a country's richness. People who build the world are those who are equipped and have great knowledge." He said the number of people who are reading books is important to determine a country's world ranking and added that they are proud to organize the seventh Book Fair in Kocaeli as a municipality that values the importance of reading books. "Every year, we prepare for the fair with joy. Everybody in the province supports the book fair and we are appreciated for our efforts," Büyükakın said. Vice Chancellor of Kocaeli University Çakır and Provincial Director of National Education Çelik thanked the Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality for organizing the book fair and said that they will continue to contribute to the event. As a part of the seventh Kocaeli Book Fair events, a commemorative ceremony for the late Yaşar Kemal was held at Kocaeli University. Writer Nebil Özgentürk, Işık Öğütçü and Ahmet Ümit talked about Kemal, who passed away a short time ago. Moreover Kahraman Tazeoğlu as well as comedian Ceyhun Yılmaz, social media phenomenons Taci Kalkavan and Argostroloji met with the students at Kocaeli University on May 13. Nuri Pakdil, the writer of "Yazmak Bir Mucize" (Writing Is A Miracle), "Bir Yazarın Notları" (Notes of A Writer) and "Edebiyat Kulesi" (The Tower of Literature), attended the opening ceremony of the book fair at the International Fair Center, which was overseen by the Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Fikri Işık. Also, the TV series "Diriliş Ertuğrul" (Resurrection Ertuğrul) was chosen as the best TV series of 2015 in the student vote and was granted an award at the ceremony. As a part of the book fair, the Association of Tabloid Journalists will choose the best of the tabloids with the cooperation of Kocaeli University and hold conferences titled "Caricature, humor, Society and Book," "Woman and Violence," "Should I Read it or Not," "The Effects of Reading on Professional Life" and "New Media Order: Digital Age."The seventh Kocaeli Book Fair, which opened its doors with the aim of a record attendance, features 350 publishing houses, 42 second hand book sellers and 67 NGOs. Throughout the book fair, hundreds of distinguished writers will come together with their readers. İskender Pala, Nuri Pakdil, Sadık Yalsızuçanlar, Ayşe Kulin, Rasim Özdenören, Ahmet Taşgetiren, Ahmet Şimşirgil, Mustafa Armağan, Uğur Koşar, Hilmi Yavuz, Nihat Ergün, Hanefi Avcı, Hayati İnanç, Canan Karatay, Bejan Matur, Engin Noyan, Sevda Türküsev, Sunay Akın, Talha Uğurluel, Senai Demirci, Yusuf Kaplan, Yavuz Bahadıroğlu, Mehmet Ali Bulut, Balçiçek İlter, Bülent Akyürek, Ceyhun Yılmaz, Erdal Demirkıran, İbrahim Tenekeci, Kahraman Tazeoğlu, Zahide Yetiş, Ahmet Ümit, Abdurrahman Dilipak, Doğan Cüceloğlu, İsmail KıIıçarslan, Kadir Mısıroğlu and Sibel Eraslan are among the writers that will visit the book fair. Furthermore, a stand where Istanbul will be represented with its 20 district municipalities will be present at the fair venue. The municipalities will introduce and sell their own cultural books on the stand.Yavuz Bahadıroğlu's story book on Kara Mürsel Alp will be downloaded on tablet computers that were handed out to the sixth grade students by the Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality. Children will be able to discuss the book with the writer during the fair. Also, the Ministry of National Education will open a stand at the book fair to introduce its Fatih Project, which is one of the most important works of the ministry on informatics. The Kocaeli Book Fair welcomes 482,000 visitors annually and it is the most visited book fair in Turkey. With the increasing number of visitors, writers and events, Kocaeli Book Fair became the biggest book fair in Turkey. Being visited by 1,700,000 people in the last six years, the book fair reveals its importance. Kocaeli Book Fair will run until May 24 and can be visited between 10:30 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.