Istanbul to host Poetry Festival

The 2nd International Istanbulensis Poetry Festival, organized by the Sultanbeyli Municipality of Istanbul, will be held from March 6 to 9 with the participation of 52 poets from Turkey and abroad. Speaking at a press conference to launch the festival, Sultanbeyli Mayor Huseyin Keskin said that their goal was to make the neighborhood into a valley of education and culture with such festivals. Cultural and Social Affairs Director of Sultanbeyli Municipality Mehmet Mazak said that the festival would host worldwide famous figures. The festival will be joined by well-known poets such as Justo Jorge Padron from Spain, Mateja Matevski from Macedonia, Ewa Sonnenberg from Tatarstan, Anna Santaliquido from Italy, Fatena al-Ghorra from Palestine, Tanagoz Ilyasova from Kazakhstan, Salahuddin Abdullah Abdulhalim from Egypt, Alfredo Fressia from Uruguay, Rodriguez Nunez Victor from Cuba, Fatma Sadak from Romania and Mongane Wally Sarote from South Africa. The festival bears the name of the Istanbulensis flower that grows only in the Aydos Forestry area within the borders of the Sultanbeyli neighborhood.