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Operating a print publication in Turkey has never been an easy task, but the sharp depreciation of the lira this year has added to the difficulties of the industry. In addition to the incurable problems of declining readership, the struggle with censorship, and the continuing fear of writers in jail, publications now face the problem of not being able to afford paper.

Since 2005, the Turkish publishing industry has had to import the paper it uses. The country's first paper company, SEKA, was privatized in 1998. Less than ten years later, it went bankrupt on the pretext that it was cheaper to buy paper from abroad than locally.

This is why the paper market is directly affected by foreign exchange rates. All transactions are conducted in U.S. dollars or Euros, so the industry is extremely susceptible to exchange rate fluctuations.

The Turkish lira depreciated by 30% last month. This not only weakened the purchasing power of publications, but also caused paper prices to skyrocket.

In less than a year, the price of book cover paper has almost doubled, high-grade pulp used for textbooks has risen by 130%, and ordinary book paper has risen by nearly 60%. According to statistics from the Turkish Statistics Agency, paper is one of the three items with the biggest price increase this year.

Newspapers have been struggling for different reasons, but the exponential rise in paper prices is expected to be the last nail in the coffin of many publications. The president of the Turkish Journalists’ Federation Yilmaz Karaka certainly believes this. Karaka said that the local media has been the most affected, and it is estimated that 100 newspapers will be closed by 2021. 

The third quarter report of the Turkish Journalists Association estimates that the number of readers of newspapers has halved in the past six years. In addition, the circulation of newspapers and magazines in 2021 set the lowest record in any year in the past two decades.

Although this is consistent with the trend of global audiences shifting from print to digital and declining advertising revenue, Turkey also faces another problem: many news organizations have lost their credibility.

Gradually, Turkish newspapers are no longer regarded as reliable sources of information. More and more news companies are sold to companies that have close ties with the government and become their mouthpieces.

It is sad to watch the structural decline of the entire industry as it is slowly being hollowed out. The remaining complete, undiminished newsworthy publications are now on the verge of extinction.

When the sports magazine Socrates was launched in 2015, it became one of the few Turkish publications to expand internationally. But editor-in-chief Caner Eler is worried now. He recently stated on Twitter that the magazine "has been stockpiling a large amount of paper to ensure that [the] magazine is published in the next six months." Who knows what will happen next?

Haluk Hepkon, owner of Kirmizi Kedi (Red Cat) Publishing House, insists that book prices must rise, "not for profit, but to avoid loss." Books currently sold at 20-30 lire must be increased to 80 lire. Although publishers must do this to survive, it is not clear whether readers will pay extra.

So far, publishers have been postponing price increases because the cost of publishing books is unclear. As Elif Akkaya, President of the Turkish Publishers Cooperative, explained: “Not only has the cost of paper doubled, the cost of printing has also doubled, and the prices of items such as ink and printers are also rising. Some people speculate that these prices are in the new one. It may double in the year."

Nevertheless, the most problematic expense is still paper. Kenan Kocaturk, president of the Turkish Publishers Association, predicts that “the paper to be printed may not be found in the near future.” Therefore, publishers are using the paper they own with caution and currently only print books that are considered the most important.

The economic policy adopted by the ruling Justice and Development Party focuses on producing cheap labor and products for export-driven companies. It does not take into account many industries that will suffer losses because they can no longer afford what they need to import. 

The suffering of the publishing industry is also part of the government’s destruction and neglect of the country’s cultural pillars.

For those engaged in text production and printing, Turkey is just promising an anxious future. How will the publishing industry support Turkish writers? How can the current climate produce and nurture young writers? Would anyone have enough motivation to study this craft, let alone pursue it? 

Awaiting publication is a bleak future, where readers will not be able to buy and publishers will not be able to print. But for those pursuing writing skills, the situation is even worse.

This article is provided by the Syndication Bureau, which owns the copyright.

Alexandra de Cramer is a journalist based in Istanbul. She covered the Arab Spring in Beirut as a Middle East reporter for the Milliyet newspaper. Her work ranges from current affairs to culture and has appeared in Monocle, Courier Magazine, Maison Francaise and Istanbul Art News. More works by Alexandra de Kramer

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