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Publishing Around the World: Notes from a Globetrotting Publisher

Cell phones and Ramadan Buffets - Doing Business in Istanbul

By Godfrey Harris

Before describing some impressions and experiences surrounding my visit to Istanbul during Ramadan, I thought I would share with you something that arose before I left. I had been invited to go to Turkey by the publisher of works by an Islamic intellectual named Harun Yahya. The publisher had told me that they want to link the philosopher's anti-Darwinian views with those of Christian creationists in the United States.

While I had a good knowledge of the politics of the issue and a reasonable idea of Christian views, I realized that I was totally ignorant of Jewish thinking on the topic. So I asked our Rabbi for some help. When he called the house to give me a few references to review, he asked Barbara if "God is at home." That kind of innocent humor from a Rabbi can work wonders on your confidence, especially as you prepare for discussions some 9,000 miles from home.

Those 9,000 miles seemed to go rather effortlessly. I discovered that American Airlines--operating a code-share with Turkish Airlines--is true to its word and has, indeed, increased the coach leg room significantly. Big and very noticeable difference compared to Delta and United. Also in deference to their Muslim partners on this particular flight, the usual ham and cheese and egg breakfast sandwich was changed to turkey, cheese and egg. A pleasing sensitivity, I thought. On the other hand, no artificial sweetener is now available on American. Some security guy is afraid that a bag will spill and a few passengers will go crazy thinking someone has sprinkled anthrax in the cabin.

Istanbul matches its reputation as the crossroads between Europe and Asia and then some. I have always said that if you dropped me in London, Paris, New York, or Berlin I would know where I was instantly; Istanbul made me think of the set for "Around the World in 80 Days." Each block seemed to transport me to somewhere I had been before...Geneva at the airport, Vienna as we swept by the spectacular palaces, Moscow and St. Petersburg in the apartment blocs. But with dozens of minarets spiking into the sky above the giant mosques on the hills (and spectacularly lit at night), alongside a few huge Romanesque churches, you also could see how the Holy Roman Empire of Constantinople had been overwhelmed by Islam.

Some remarkable scenes: Every one of my hosts carried two cell phones. One, they told me, is for their personal lives and the other is for business. They go off incessantly everywhere and of course in a group of six businessmen at a dinner table, all of whom have laid out their double phones on the table like guns showing at a Western saloon, conversations were interrupted continuously as they decided whose phone was ringing and whether they wanted to respond.

On the first day, my host said he had just read one of my books in Turkish. I was stunned. We had never sold the rights to a Turkish publisher, never authorized anyone else to do so, and never received a lira for the sales. Welcome to the world of international publishing. Add another version of How to Generate Word of Mouth Advertising to the British, Indian, Chinese, and Spanish versions available.

After some difficulty, I was able to meet with the Turkish publisher and offer a suggestion for resolving the dispute. I must say, however, that the price tag on the back of the Turkish edition was a nice ego boost: 6,000,000 TL. Six million for one of our books makes them seem valuable even if your head swims in zeros as you convert prices at the rate of 1,500,000 Turkish lira to the U.S. dollar. Despite this, Turkey's economy seems to be recovering given the throngs in the modern malls...and yes, the large crowds were indeed Christmas shopping. To my amazement, a number of the population in the 98%-Muslim Istanbul exchange "Christmas" gifts on December 25. But if you think Islamic countries might feel immune to extremists of any religious group, think again. At the entrance of every hotel, every public building, every mall was a security force to search the bags and operate the metal detectors. Ramadan, a month of fasting between morning and night, was nearly invisible to me except for the fact that all the restaurants were packed by 4:30PM (just as the sun was setting), but were empty again by 7:00PM. Most restaurants, by the way, serve buffet style during Ramadan because the entire capacity tends to arrive at the exact same moment to eat. The result is long queues and fast emptying trays of food because everyone takes too much. Because Isfahar comes during one of the mandatory prayer hours, restaurants provide a special prayer room for the observant.

I was told to do serious business during the morning and to avoid anything delicate in the afternoons when everyone gets on edge. The problem is that to shorten the hours of the fast, the mornings didn't really get started until 10:00AM, a virtual lost day in my terms, then kept going after dinner, when I was long past mental quitting time. One other note: In Brazil, I remember doing business in hideaway apartments, (where the men kept their mistresses or entertained ladies on the side) and being taken to the ranch or city house to meet the wife and kids. In Istanbul, I was twice taken to ceremonial houses...extravagantly decorated places maintained by the wealthy and influential to receive guests for business meetings and quite distinct from the personal houses where the individual and his family live. I was not invited to see any of those.

From the business perspective, it is still a work in progress. We did not reach final agreement on how to launch Harun Yahya's ideas and books in the United States and I was asked to add a political dimension to the task to make the Science Research Foundation a player in U.S. Islamic policy.

The Foundation is supported by a group of some 300 young (under 40), prosperouss businessmen-three men are partners in a business that imports wood from Russia to manufacturer door jams and frames sold in the U.S.; another is the leading manufacturer of chip implanted credit cards used by Turkish banks and telephone companies whose soon-to-be father-in-law is Turkey's Army Chief of Staff; the father of another is head of CNN Turkey (an all-news Turkish channel funded and backed by AOL Time Warner)-who want to lead the world to a better understanding of the modern face of Islam as interpreted by Harun Yahya.

This view believes deeply in the basic tenets of the religion as taught in the Qu'ran and uncorrupted by later interpretations of the Haddiz that dictate such matters as the wearing of chador, and by removing personal responsibility for acts by claiming everything that happens is the will of Allah (see Osmana ben Laden.)

The leadership of the group reminded me very much of the young, idealistic, and prosperous businessmen who supported General Torrijos's international and social policies in Panama during the 1970s. The difference is that I was then a contemporary of the guys in Panama and dealing in foreign policy matters; in Turkey, I am very much senior to the people I am working with and dealing in spiritual matters. Some day I will look back on all of these adventures and think that at least my life never lacked for new challenges.

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PS: My lost suitcase was later found by Turkish Airlines in a cage at JFK. It was never transferred to American Airlines, as I assumed when I left it with THY outside of the custom's hall. Rather than use American, its code share partner, Turkish Airlines chose to deliver the suitcase via Federal Express. Given the fact that it weighed at least 30 kilos, I would not like to see that charge on my monthly FEDEX bill...

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Godfrey Harris is Executive Director of International Publishers Alliance in Los Angeles. His email address is hrmg@aol.com.

International Publishers Alliance is a cooperative of some 650 small and independent publishers who come together for the purpose of displaying their titles at the world's major international book shows. Harris has been executive director for nine years.

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