Young woman cycles to Türkiye from Germany to finally meet her father

By Esma Kucuksahin

KAYSERI, Türkiye (AA) – A young woman met her father for the first time after spending over four months making the long bicycle trek from Germany to central Türkiye, where her father now lives.

Seven years ago, Madeline Hoffman learned that her father was a Turk. Hoffmann, who at the time was a fashion designer living in Sydney, Australia, decided to take a trip to finally meet her father.

Hoffmann, 33, resigned from her job and returned to Germany, where she had grown up, and set off on her bicycle journey last Aug. 23.

Sharing the journey with her followers on social media, Hoffmann wrote about her feelings and experiences.

At length reaching the central Anatolian city of Kayseri after over four months, she finally met her father, Duran Tekin, who is now 64.

Speaking to Anadolu, she said she was shocked at the age of 26 when she learned that she was half Turkish and decided to embark on a journey to "discover the other half of her origin and find herself.”

“There were different feelings inside because I was going to meet my father for the first time. I've been waiting for this moment for 33 years. I've been traveling by bike for four-and-a-half months to experience this moment,” she said.

-2nd culture

She added that she would like to see and meet Turkish people as much as possible to learn about her second culture. “I want to listen to Turkish music, try Turkish food, and learn a few Turkish words,” she said.

After starting her personal bike trek in Germany, she passed through France, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and Greece, before finally reaching Türkiye.

Tekin said that he went to Germany in 1973 and started doing business.

Explaining that he had two daughters with a woman he met in Germany, he said they broke up for various reasons.

Noting that he had not seen either of his daughters for many years, he said he reached out to the municipality and started to track down his daughters after 28 years,

He said he met his eldest daughter in Germany but was unable to meet face-to-face with his younger daughter Madeline because she lived halfway around the world, in Australia.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar