Mixed feelings in the far east of Turkey | World bike tour

Bicycle touring to the far east of modern day Turkey is an exciting adventure, even for experienced bike tourers. As I am from Armenia, I'm also anxious to explore the remains of our tragic history in these lands.

In this unique travel documentary we take you with us on a difficult, very personal and emotional part of our journey around the world. Continuing our story in Diyarbakir, we cycle via Batman, Bitlis, Tatvan, Lake Van, Van, Dogubayazit, Ani, Kars, Cildir Lake to the border with Georgia.

As the historical context we provide throughout this episode might be conflicting or maybe even new information for some viewers, we provide some quality sources for further reading at the end of the description.

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We take you with us on a bicycle journey around the world and show it how we see it. We hope to inspire more people to go a great adventure themselves or if they can't, to get a sense of ours.

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Music
Armen-Levon Manaseryan    / armenlevonmanaseryan  

#biketouring #armenia #kurdistan

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Thank you so much!
Arev & Mathias

We sincerely hope you understand that for crucial context we had to include historical facts that are internationally recognised as the Armenian Genocide. Turkey has for over 100 years maintained a fierce state policy of denial, which is why so many people of Turkish descent today have difficulties with the topic. We will NOT engage in further discussions about the well documented history, nor will we spend our time debunking made up claims. Facts are not a matter of emotion nor opinion, suggesting otherwise is pointless, and in our experience often enough not genuine. Instead if you are in doubt, we suggest you do some further reading. There is ample research available from international and even Turkish scholars, as well as eye witness accounts of diplomats and foreign aid workers in the region at the time. Just to name a few:

Akçam, Taner (2012). The Young Turks' Crime against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire. Princeton University Press.
de Waal, Thomas (2015). Great Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide. Oxford University Press.
Göçek, Fatma Müge (2015). Denial of Violence: Ottoman Past, Turkish Present and Collective Violence Against the Armenians, 1789–2009. Oxford University Press.
Ihrig, Stefan (2016). Justifying Genocide: Germany and the Armenians from Bismarck to Hitler. Harvard University Press.
Künzler, Jakob (1921). In the land of blood and tears: experiences in Mesopotamia during the World War.
Morris, Benny; Ze'evi, Dror (2019). The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey's Destruction of Its Christian Minorities, 1894–1924. Harvard University Press.

Encyclopaedia Britannica: Armenian Genocide https://www.britannica.com/event/Arme...

Wikipedia (EN): Armenian Genocide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia...

00:00 Introduction & Context
01:29 Leaving Diyarbakir
03:42 Sick in Batman
06:13 A busy day
08:27 Eastern Anatolia
10:00 Arev gets a present
12:56 Into the Taurus Mountains
13:55 Turkish breakfast
14:21 A dangerous road
16:37 Eastern toilets explained
17:25 Thoughts about privilege
18:55 Bitlis & Kurdish hospitality
21:31 Tatvan was not for us
23:39 At the lake was not better
25:25 Saved by a truck stop
26:25 Tunnels are bad
27:05 Akhtamar Island
30:07 Van, Van, Van
31:15 A big fortress
32:00 A weird moment
33:01 Riding with Dani
34:00 Dangerous Iranian border?
37:00 Dogubayazit
38:00 Mount Ararat
40:28 Money, Money, Money
41:53 Close but far from home
42:17 Exceptional landscape
42:51 Brutal heat and headwinds
44:44 Ani Ruins ruined
48:31 Time to move on
50:20 Goodbye Dani
50:56 Final thoughts
52:00 Please support our work