Turkiye: Cycling Through a Country’s First Century (Hardback)

On the eve of Türkiye’s centenary and a pivotal election year, Julian Emre Sayarer sets out on a ride across the country — from the Aegean coast all the way to the Armenian border. What unfolds is a vivid, human‑level portrait of a nation sitting at the crossroads of continents and histories.

Along the way he meets Turkish farmers, factory workers, Syrian refugees, and Russians escaping conscription, each encounter adding another thread to the cultural tapestry of a place where Asia, Africa and Europe meet. The journey becomes both a love letter to Türkiye and a clear‑eyed look at its politics, identity and shifting place in the world. It’s also shadowed by tragedy: Sayarer pedals along a major fault line just months before one of the region’s most devastating earthquakes.

True to his style, Sayarer uses the bicycle — and the conversations it invites — to bring big political questions back to the people living them. By the end, you’re left with a deeper understanding not just of Türkiye, but of how power, history and humanity shape every society, including our own.