Torku Şekerspor staying focused on Tour of Qinghai Lake following turmoil back home in Turkey

XINING, China—Turkish-registered UCI Continental team Torku Şekerspor rode onto the main stage in front of a jam-packed arena during the team presentation of the 15th ‘Qinghai Rural Credit Cup’ Tour of Qinghai Lake (UCI 2.HC) in Xining, China, on Saturday with minds fully on their fallen countrymen who died during a failed military coup the night before.

The latest casualty list includes 161 dead and 1,440 injured following an overnight battle between police and the Turkish military bent on ousting the current regime, which resulted in more than 2,839 members of the Turkish military detained

All this came just one day after 84 were killed and 202 injured following a terrorist attack during Bastille Day celebrations in Nice, France.

For Torku Şekerspor, there is little to do but check in with family and friends back home and turn their attention to the task at hand.

“Our riders and our staff all have family back home and luckily they are all safe,” said team general manager Sadettin Kizil. “But we have a job to do as a professional cycling team and we are here to finish that job.

“When we start, we will have our countrymen in our hearts, but our minds will be on winning bike races.”

Recently named Rio Olympian Ahmet Örken (TUR) was shocked and deeply saddened when he turned on his computer to browse the Internet first thing in the morning.

“I was very sad when I first learned of the news,” Örken told Eurosport. “The first thing I did was reach out and see if everyone was okay back home.

“Thankfully my friends and family are all OK,” the 23-year-old Konya native continued. “They told me to not worry about the problems back home and do my job.

“Now, I want to win the race more than ever.”

Örken’s teammate and compatriot Mustafa Sayar has no doubt about his nation’s resiliency and ability to bounce back.

“My country is a really beautiful country, but last time two or three years we have had our problems,” Sayar admitted to Eurosport. “Turkey is very strong and our team is strong, and we are here in China to represent ourselves and our nation proudly.”

Örken concurred with the 27-year-old from Çaykara, who finished third in the individual time trial behind the reigning three-time winner last month.

“Sure we have problems,” concluded Örken. “But I believe if we stand together as a nation we will come out on top.”