Fevzi Hussein - Chairperson

Fevzi has been actively involved in the trade union movement for almost 20 years, working with the Public & Commercial Services Union (PCS), the General Municipal & Boilermakers Union (GMB), and his current employer the Communications Workers Union (CWU). He is well known throughout the movement for his tough views on equality and discrimination, in particular against racism. He regularly works with CWU members to support them at Employment Tribunals, and has also lectured on his specialist area for ETUI (the pan-European equivalent of the Trade Union Congress).

He has assisted trade union movements from the new EU states. In addition, he has served as a freelance Cultural Advisor [Islamic principles] to the Metropolitan Police (MET) and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, and is an honorary member of the MET's Turkish Police Association. He joined human rights group Embargoed! in 2006 and was elected the group's chair in 2007. He is a regular contributor to Property NC Magazine. Married with three children, his hobbies include sport (football, tennis, cycling) and newt breeding.

Cahit Akin - Treasurer

Born in London in 1970, Cahit moved to Cyprus aged 13, where he went to school in North Nicosia's Turk Maarif Kolej until 1988. He then went on to study Sociology at Istanbul's premier Bogazici University, graduating with BA Honours in 1993.

Returning to London, Cahit has taken up a career in accountancy and now works in his family practice, HV Akin & Co, the oldest Turkish Cypriot accountancy firm in the UK.

His family has long been involved in Cyprus civil society, enabling Cahit to get a good grounding in the Turkish Cypriot struggle. He joined Embargoed! because he wants to help put an end to the injustices faced by people living in North Cyprus and was first elected Treasurer in 2008.

Cahit is married and is currently on a sabbatical, living in Hong Kong.

Emel Djevdet - Secretary

Emel completed her LLB and LLM at University College London. She then went on to complete the bar vocational course and now works as a paralegal in London. Whilst an International Baccalaureate student, her extended essay focused on the historical causes for the events of 1974 in Cyprus. It was these studies which galvanised her interest in the ongoing issues facing Turkish Cypriots today and prompted her to join Embargoed! She was elected the group's Secretary in April 2009.

Ismail Veli - Community Relations Officer

Ismail was born in Luricina [Akincilar] in 1956 and moved to England in 1962. He is a successful family businessman who has always held a strong passion for Cyprus and specifically Turkish Cypriot human rights.

Before joining Embargoed!, he was one of the key people behind a petition that collected over 16,000 signatures calling for direct flights to and trade with North Cyprus. It prompted the well publicised letter in 2005 from the then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, which stated the British Government were committed to direct flights and the lifting of embargoes against the Turkish Cypriot people.

Ismail is fluent in English, Turkish and Greek, and is widely respected amongst many factions/camps across the Cypriot Diaspora. He has held this position since 2005.