Özdemir Turan, 74, is among the few tightrope walkers in Türkiye and he is planning a farewell to his dangerous profession across one of Istanbul’s most famous spots. Turan will ride a bicycle on a 700-meter (2,296.58-foot) long steel cable, at a height of 40 meters across the Golden Horn.
Turan dreams of accomplishing his feat on May 29, 2023, the 570th anniversary of the city’s conquest by the Ottomans. “This will be my finale before I die,” he told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Sunday.
An elderly man, drawn to circus acts during his childhood after watching the masters of his profession, he started out as an assistant to tightrope walkers for 10 years during summer holidays, until after he graduated from university where he studied dentistry. Since then, he devoted his entire time to learning the tricks of the profession.
For about 60 years, he performed in Türkiye and abroad and broke several records in the country. Health problems forced him to cancel his engagements for the past year but as he recovers, he started planning his next feat.
“I picked the Golden Horn because it was around there that tightrope walkers of the past performed for decades,” Turan, who now runs the only workshop for tightrope walkers in Türkiye. Turan says he will perform the feat without any measures. “Turkish tightrope walkers differ from their European counterparts because they do not use safety belts or safety nets on the ground. I never took safety measures, in respect to our tradition,” he said. “This is real tightrope walking,” he added.
