Abdul-Razzaq Ahmad Saryoul began publishing books in Syria in 2003, but he used to abstain from participating in the annual International Damascus Book Fair because of tight measures by the country’s security agencies and bans on many books under the Assad regime.
In the first post-Assad book fair to be held in Damascus, which wrapped up Monday, Saryoul was surprised when he was issued a permit the day he applied to take part without being asked what his books are about.
The wide range of titles available made this year's fair "unprecedented", he said.
The first book fair since Assad was ousted in December 2024 witnessed high turnout, with state media reporting that 250,000 people attended on the first day, February 6, trekking out to fairgrounds where it was held about 16 kilometres from the city centre.
The fair’s director, Ahmad Naasan, said about 500 publishing companies from some 35 countries took part.
‘We are all Syrians’
The book fair was first held in Syria in 1985 and stopped for several years after the country’s civil war began in March 2011.
Hala Bishbishi, the director of the Egypt-based Al-Hala publishing house, was surprised by the number of people who showed up.
“With the circumstances that Syria passed through, this fair is excellent,” the woman said.
Shuttle buses between the fair and central Damascus boosted visitor numbers, she added.
Atef Namous, a Syrian publisher who had been living abroad for 45 years, said he was participating for the first time because any book can be sold at the fair now, even those imported from Western countries.
“We are very happy with this positive step toward Kurds, who for more than 60 years have been deprived of practising the Kurdish culture,” said Sorakji, a publisher, about being allowed to show all books for the first time in many years.
“We are all Syrians, but what caused all the differences was the Assad regime,” he said.
Another owner of a publishing company, Mayada Kayali, said that the most important thing to offer to the younger generations who “have emerged from war, injustice and oppression is knowledge, knowledge that is accessible to them, without placing restrictions on their ideas or their opinions.”
