In Ukraine, plans are underway to establish a new publishing house called "Kitap Qalesi" ("Book Fortress" in English). This publishing house will focus on printing Crimean Tatar literature and advancing Crimean Tatar book publishing.
Commenting on the idea behind Kitap Qalesi, Sofia Ostrizhka, the initiator of the project, shared that the concept originated in May 2023. "I was born in Crimea. While I'm not a Crimean Tatar myself, it's important for me to support the indigenous people of my region," she stated. Ostrizhka mentioned that one of the aims of the publishing house is to promote the Crimean Tatar language, which is currently listed as an endangered language. Kitap Qalesi intends to preserve and disseminate the valuable heritage of the Crimean Tatar people and introduce people to the genuine culture and history of Crimea.
"If we don't create instruments for Ukraine's cultural return to Crimea and for integrating Crimea into the Ukrainian context right now, it will be even more challenging after de-occupation," emphasized Sofia Ostrizhka.
She noted that a significant challenge for the publishing house is catering to a large part of the target audience residing under Russian occupation. Additionally, the war presents challenges such as constantly increasing costs, the inability to predict the cost of publishing books, and simultaneously decreasing the purchasing power of citizens.
"Our first publication will be a bilingual collection of Crimean Tatar folklore in the Crimean Tatar language (in Latin script) alongside translations in Ukrainian. The priorities of our publishing house are Crimean Tatar classics and the development of contemporary authors and representatives from Ukraine's indigenous communities," Sofia Ostrizhka explained.
According to her, Kitap Qalesi will be the first Crimean Tatar publishing house on the mainland of Ukraine. While there are publishing houses working with the Crimean Tatar language in Crimea, due to the Russian occupation, they are unable to use the Latin script.
You can follow the development of Kitap Qalesi on its Instagram page.
