Having trained as a mechanical engineer at Istanbul Technical University, I put my engineering skills into use for multinational companies; my social and organising skills for NGOs with environmental and social agendas. Commuting and travelling by bicycle led me to open Turkey’s first touring bicycle shop, Bisiklet Gezgini. Meeting with like-minded women and seeing the need of women presence in cycling world led me to co-found Women on Bicycle Initiative; aiming to encourage more women to cycle and to increase the visibility of women in another male dominated field.
After Istanbul and Athens, I have experienced life in two small scale cities; Padova and Aalborg. This re-convinced me of the importance of active mobility and multi-modality. Recently I wrote a thesis as a “Mobility Studies” master student at the University of Padova: “Integrating the railway infrastructure with cycling tourism. The opportunities for achieving sustainable territorial development in Greece.”
Selected publications or texts
“my bicycle my city” film which narrates the stories of cycling women in different cities in Turkey. http://benimbisikletimbenimsehrimfilm.com/en/
Selected speaking engagements
Velo-City Conferences
2017 Arnhem-Nijmegen, Cycling and Gender – Stories of Empowerment “WoBi”
2019 Dublin, Overcoming Imbalances: How to make cycling inclusive for all? “Visibility and Solidarity Among Women in Turkey”
2020 Ljubljana, “What can we do to reach more women and why?”(postponed due to pandemic)
Awards and recognitions
Remarkeable Women in Transport 2021 Remarkable Women in Transport 2021 » WomenMobilizeWomen