Culture Minister Elizabeta Kanceska-Milevska met with Turkey's Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertugrul Gunay in Istanbul on Friday, confirming excellent bilateral ties in the field of culture and the possibilities for their enhancement.

The two ministers signed a Programme for Cultural Cooperation 2013-2015, which envisages new projects towards intensification of cooperation and increased communication among institutions and associations, as well as an agreement over opening of cultural centers in both countries.

The Macedonian culture center will be situated in Istanbul's Taksim square, whereas the Turkish culture center in Skopje's Kursumli An.

Minister Kanceska-Milevska also addressed the first literary festival under UNESCO auspices, held on occasion of the World Novel Character Day-21 December.

"Novels can always be read in a different way, creating new personal histories, new worlds. The Balkans possesses an authentic literary expression, which responds to the global and European modern trends. The novel was a way to painlessly tell the aches of this region, to build new micro-worlds of the characters", Kanceska-Milevska told counterparts from regional countries.

According to her, the ministry provides support to private publishing houses which release a number of works by domestic and foreign authors, but also supports editions in languages of other ethnic communities.