Alp Mehmet
{{Short description|British diplomat (born 1948)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
Alper Mehmet {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MVO}} (born 28 August 1948) is a British former diplomat and one of the United Kingdom's first two ethnic minority ambassadors, along with Anwar Choudhury.
Early life
Mehmet arrived in the United Kingdom from Cyprus in 1956 when he was aged eight, as a British citizen but unable to speak English.{{cite episode|title=Clive Myrie talks to Alp Mehmet|series=One to One|network=BBC|station=BBC Radio 4|airdate=28 May 2013|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01sm6rr}} Mehmet was educated at Parmiter's School near London, and at Bristol Polytechnic (now the University of the West of England).
Career
On graduation from Bristol, Mehmet became an immigration officer (1970–79) and then an entry clearance officer in Lagos, Nigeria (1979–83). In 1983, he entered Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service, serving in Romania, Germany and Iceland (twice) and leaving in 2008. When Mehmet was appointed as Ambassador to Iceland in 2004, he became one of the first two British ambassadors from ethnic minority backgrounds to be appointed (the other being Anwar Choudhury, who was appointed High Commissioner to Bangladesh).{{cite web|url=http://www.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/pdf12/fco_race-equalityscheme |title=Foreign and Commonwealth Office Race Equality Scheme 2005–2008 |publisher=Foreign and Commonwealth Office |location=London |page=5 |accessdate=7 August 2010 |url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925225340/http://www.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/pdf12/fco_race-equalityscheme |archivedate=25 September 2012 }} Mehmet became Chairman of Migration Watch UK in July 2019.{{cite web |title=A new Chairman for Migration Watch UK |url=https://www.migrationwatchuk.org/press-release/583/a-new-chairman-for-migration-watch-uk |website=www.migrationwatchuk.org |access-date=29 May 2021}}
Honours
Mehmet was appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order on 26 June 1990.{{London Gazette |issue=52213 |date=17 July 1990 |page=11983}}
References
- [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U56108 MEHMET, Alper], Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012
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{{succession box |title=Ambassador to Iceland |before=John Culver|after=Ian Whitting|years=2004–2008}}
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Category:Cypriot emigrants to England
Category:English people of Turkish Cypriot descent
Category:Alumni of the University of the West of England, Bristol
Category:Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Iceland
Category:People educated at Parmiter's School, London
Category:Members of HM Diplomatic Service
Category:Members of the Royal Victorian Order
Category:20th-century British diplomats
Category:21st-century British diplomats
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