The Book Fair featured a presentation of a book titled "The Tales of Istanbul". It is a collection compiled and recorded by the Turkish researcher Naki Tezel.The presentation of the new book, which took place within the framework of the St Petersburg International Book Fair, was visited by Consul General of the Republic of Turkey in St Petersburg Mr Ozgun Talu. He greeted the audience and spoke about the importance of this publication in the study of Turkish culture. ’Istanbul is one of the oldest cities in the world. Throughout its history, it has accumulated a large number of cultures and civilisations. Due to that, it has a great diversity of folklore. Undoubtedly, one of the most important elements of this cultural heritage is wonder tales. They have been passed down from generation to generation for many centuries,’ he emphasised.

Aleksei Obraztsov, Associate Professor in the Department of Turkic Philology at St Petersburg University, who was one of the translators of the book, spoke about the history of recording such tales in Turkey. The second translator Aliya Suleimanova, Associate Professor in the Department of Turkic Philology at St Petersburg University, described the content of the tales, their characters and plots.

The results of the presentation were summed up by the editor of ’The Tales of Istanbul’ Apollinariia Avrutina, Professor of St Petersburg University and Director of the Centre for Contemporary Turkish Studies and Russia—Turkey Relations at St Petersburg University. ’My task as the editor of the «Contemporary Turkish Studies» series was to present to the Russian reader books that, on the one hand, would present a scientific view of the culture of Turkey, and on the other hand, would not be just boring scientific books, but would make Turkish culture, literature and history attractive for the public at large,’ she said.