CTCC Board of Directors

Dr. Muhammet Yaşarata is a seasoned professional, bringing over twenty years of versatile expertise in the Travel and Tourism Industry. Originally from North Cyprus, his educational journey has led him across continents. With a Masters degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management from Bournemouth University, he has a robust foundation in the field. He further honed his academic prowess at the University of North London, now known as London Metropolitan University. His Doctorate study centered on Sustainable Development and Planning of Tourism in Small Island Economies, with a keen focus on North Cyprus.

In 2002, Dr. Yaşarata leveraged his profound knowledge and fresh insights, founding MPtour Cyprus, a travel agency in North Cyprus. Following this, in 2006, he ventured back to the United Kingdom, establishing Cyprus Premier Holidays alongside Mr. Ünal Çağıner and Mr. Dimağ Çağıner of the Çağıner Group Of Companies. Dr. Yaarata currently serves as a valuable Board member of the Çağıner Group Of Companies and DMG Cyprus, an extensive conglomerate encompassing various sectors such as hospitality, agriculture, shipping, tourism, and more.

2007 marked a significant milestone as Cyprus Premier Holidays acquired Cyprus Paradise, the market leader in North Cyprus. The consolidation established the duo as the leading tour operators in the UK for flights and holidays to North Cyprus. Dr. Yaşarata, with his partners, have broadened their investments into the technology sector, further expanding their diverse portfolio.

They have also pioneered the Paradise & Premier Group of Companies brand, designed to extend their services to numerous other destinations. As a testament to their success, they have launched Malta Paradise, Turkey Paradise, Turkey Premier, and Malta Premier under this brand. Premier World Choice, the next exciting venture, aims to provide worldwide holidays to their ever-expanding client base.

In the field of real estate, they have recently launched The Paradise Group Real Estate, promoting property sales in North Cyprus, Turkey, and Malta.

As part of the CTCC, Dr. Yaşarata envisions fostering stronger collaboration with the TRNC and becoming a prominent voice for the Turkish Cypriot community in the UK. His decades of experience, extensive knowledge, and innovative thinking continue to influence and shape the travel, tourism, and property estate industries.

Tuncel Nalbantoglu is the Managing Director of Vatan Catering Ltd, which has been suppling traditional doner kebabs to the UK and European food industry for more than 25 years. Vatan operate a nationwide refrigerated delivery network and have recently been awarded 3 EC licences reflecting their outstanding commitments to both hygiene standards and processing controls in their London factory.

Tuncel is extensively involved with the Turkish Cypriot community in the UK, and helps to knit together the community as much as possible. He is actively involved in different social, cultural and sporting activities helping to grow the community further and unite the Turkish Cypriots together.

Altan Kemal is principal at Alton & Co Chartered Certified Accountants and Registered Auditors, one of the leading accountants within the Turkish Cypriots and Turkish speaking communities. He came to London from Cyprus when he was 16 and decided on studying accountancy as a career and has been practicing since 1980, with 26 members of staff, of which 11 are qualified accountants. He says that the CTCC can help Turkish Cypriot and Turkish speaking businesses to communicate and help each other, as well as provide help and advice on a variety of business issues.

Ahmet Dourmoush is currently the Operations Director at the Eden Valley Group, which are a specialist meat and poultry processor, and have been supplying the industry for over 35 years. He has previously been a manager at British Telecom, as well as a previous Chairman and Secretary of the Turkish Community Football Federation and is currently a Conservative Councillor in Bexley. Ahmet is a strong believer that the Turkish Cypriot community in the UK is blessed with plenty of entrepreneurs, and that the community needs to unite as a force to be able to achieve financial and political rewards. He says that the Turkish Cypriots are resolute and strong in their beliefs and are high achievers, and hopes that the CTCC will be the catalyst to join the community so that they can reap the rewards the community deserves.

Mehmet Mimoglu is the director of Coversure Insurance Services Ltd and Excellence Mortgage Services Ltd. Coversure Insurance is a leading Insurance Intermediary within the UK Insurance Industry. Educated in the UK; Mehmet Mimoglu has been serving the Turkish Speaking community for 25 years as an Insurance and Mortgage Intermediary. His expertise is in Personal and Commercial Insurance Industry.He has also been involved in the management of various Turkish sporting clubs and association.He believes the CTCC can help Turkish Cypriot and Turkish speaking businesses to communicate and help each other, as well as provide help and advice on a variety of business issues.

Isik Vedat is the proprietor of Ukay Catering. Ukay Catering is a manufacturer and supplier of quality condiments e.g. Tomato ketchup, tomato sauce, brown sauce, vinegar to name but a few. He came to this country aged 18 as a student to further his education. He completed his vocation as an electrical engineer with distinction. He is a successful entrepreneur who has been included in the "who's who of Britain’s business elite - owners of Britain's most successful businesses." he is a dedicated, hardworking and dynamic businessman who has created a variety of uniquely tasted sauces to suit the British market. He supplies sauces to the largest catering companies in the UK and Europe. His business policy and work ethic is evident as Ukay Catering has met the criteria and thus been accredited with the ISO:9001 certification. He has most recently celebrated 25 years of growth and leadership in running this business. He is hoping to continue with the success of the CTCC by offering an abundance of assistance, support and dedication to the Turkish business sector.

Niyazi Oztoprak is the Managing Director of NYO Chartered Accountants, which is based in London. With a friendly style and progressive outlook, Niyazi has created a strong client base, and believes in providing a friendly, helpful, optimised and efficient service to their clients. Their philosophy is to always strive for better and keep their clients at the center of everything they do.

Levent Hassan first opened The Kazan Restaurant in 2004 and is now about to open a second restaurant in the City, due to the success of the Kazan. The restaurant has been featured on many television shows including; BBC3, Gordon Ramsay's Cookalong Live and Masterchef as well as being featured in many magazines and publications such as Time Out and the Telegraph magazine. It has great reviews on Trip Advisor and ranks in the top 200 restaurants out of over 17,000 restaurants in London. The Kazan is described as being one of SW1’s most popular dining experiences.

Aliosman Halil is the Managing Partner and owner of Hutchins & Co Solicitors. A Legal 500 recommended solicitor for commercial property transactions, Aliosman has been a qualified solicitor for ten years where he has been a partner at two Legal 500 firms and acted for a variety of high profile clients, including property developers and business owners. Matters have included the purchase of residential properties, small businesses and land for property development worth several million pounds. Aliosman also acts for clients in drafting wills and administering estate, and regularly acts for a trust consisting of a number commercial and residential properties.

Levent Altinay (PhD, MSc and BSc) is a Professor of Strategy and Business Development, at Oxford Brookes University Business School. His research interests are in the areas of entrepreneurship, strategic alliances and international business. Using primarily qualitative methods as well as mixed methods, he is particularly interested in how entrepreneurs start up and develop their businesses and also how firms establish partnerships internationally.

Levent has been invited to give several keynote presentations and seminars, and also chaired/co-chaired three international conferences. Levent is the co-author of the hospitality management research methods and strategic management text books: Planning Research in Hospitality and Tourism (2008). Strategic Management for Hospitality and Tourism (2010). Butterworth-Heinemann: Oxford.

Levent has strong record of attracting blue chip external funding, having secured funding from the ESRC (£100k) and the British Academy (£7.5k) as well as funding from Hong Kong Polytechnic University (£20k) for an international collaborative project. His ESRC funded project aimed to investigate how entrepreneurs’ socio-cultural backgrounds influence the entrepreneurial orientation of firms and how this in turn influences firm growth. This study was conducted with particular reference to Turkish and Chinese small firms in London, operating in a variety of sectors including manufacturing, retailing, and catering. Different stakeholder groups, including the Association of Community Based Advisors have taken the findings of the project on board and started to develop more effective training programmes for ethnic small businesses.

Dourmoush Ibrahim started his career as an Electronics and Electrical Engineer and has over 20 years Ministry of Defence experience within the design of Nuclear Submarine reactor systems. He joined his established family business “The Eden Valley Group” as Managing Director in 1999. Eden Valley are one of the largest poultry processors in the UK and through investment in advanced computerised processing systems supply businesses throughout Europe, The Middle East and The Far East.

Dourmoush’s vision for the CTCC is to make the Turkish-speaking business community one of the most successful groups in the UK and to be recognised for its contribution to mainstream society; “We want to provide every tool and support possible to make us a shining example of an enterprising business community. “For this to happen, we all need to pull together in the same direction as one streamlined and effective body; strive for success and take a real pride in our achievements”. Dourmoush believes that communicating the CTCC’s mission, core values, beliefs and triumphs to a wider national audience will both raise the profile of our local business community and make a positive contribution to British Industry.

Hasan Gazi is the Managing Director of Euromed Shipping, based in North London. He entered the shipping industry after he was offered a job following work experience at a shipping company in 1982. Educated in the UK, Hasan Gazi achieved a HND in Business Management in 1980. He believes the CTCC will ‘offer Turkish Cypriot business people help, information and other perks associated with membership of a chamber of commerce.’

Merter qualified as a solicitor in 1999 specialising in Commercial Property becoming a partner in a leading West End law firm in 2003. In 2007, Merter founded his own firm, a boutique central London law firm specialising in Commercial Property with an emphasis on investment, development and landlord and tenant. Hilmi + Partners LLP acts for a number of substantial and high profile property companies, funds, developers, retailers and leisure operators and has been recommended as one of the top 100 law firms in Commercial Property in the UK by the publication The Legal 500 UK.

Rezvan Halil came to the UK when he was just seven years old. He has been involved in the leisure industry since 1971, having initially studied at Westminster Hotel School in London and completing his catering education in Geneva Switzerland. His company Sevan Leisure currently owns and manages restaurants, pubs and clubs in London and has business interests extending to Turkey.

Hayrettin Ramis studied Electronics at university and began his career as an engineer working for top telecommunication companies. He founded Intec Group in 1995 and the company grew to become the UK’s leading mobile phone sales and service centre with over 250 employees and a turnover of £20m. Intec won many industry awards including “Best Repair Company” three years in succession. He also has an interest in a number of technology companies, providing both consultancy and seed capital. Hayrettin’s new venture is a newly formed company Hadley Properties (property development and investment vehicle).

Altan Gultekin came to the UK after his university studies at Middle East Technical University in Turkey. He also studied Economics and Accountancy in UK. Currently he is the Managing Director of Star Catering Supplies Ltd, established in 1980. Star Catering is one of the very first Turkish Companies specializing in wholesale and distribution of catering products. Starburger and Café Express are Fast Food franchised restaurants currently with more than 120 units in UK. Altan believes CTCC offers great help and networking opportunities within the Turkish Business community.

Mehmet Arkin is a licensed insolvency practitioner with over 15 years experience in the insolvency and corporate recovery profession. He is the principal of Arkin & Co, an independent family run practice that specialises solely in business recovery, turnaround and insolvency. The firm was established over 25 years ago and is currently based in Potters Bar.

Prior to joining the family firm in 1994, Mehmet worked for the American Express Corporation and was posted to Hong Kong for 5 years to help set up a cost management services division within AMEX to service blue chip clients trading in South East Asia.

Mehmet takes pride in providing practical advice and bespoke solutions to financially distressed companies, partnerships and individuals and his firm fully supports the change in emphasis to business recovery in the UK, with more opportunity now offered to distressed businesses to avoid formal insolvency than ever before.

Mehmet joined the CTCC because he believes in its ethos that there is a vast amount of talent in the Turkish business community that needs to be promoted and celebrated.