Alp Mehmet

Alper Mehmet 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.[1] 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).[2] Mehmet became Chairman of MigrationWatch UK in July 2019.[3]

Honours

Mehmet was appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order on 26 June 1990.[4]

References
  • MEHMET, Alper, Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012
  1. "Clive Myrie talks to Alp Mehmet". One to One. 28 May 2013. BBC. BBC Radio 4.
  2. "Foreign and Commonwealth Office Race Equality Scheme 2005–2008". London: Foreign and Commonwealth Office. p. 5. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  3. "A new Chairman for Migration Watch UK". www.migrationwatchuk.org. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  4. "No. 52213". The London Gazette. 17 July 1990. p. 11983.


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