Aydin Mehmet Ali

International Education Consultant, Author and Trainer

Aydin Mehmet Ali is an international education consultant, author and trainer and lives in London. She specialises in multiculturalism, bilingualism and equalities work with the Turkish Speaking Communities (TSCs), women, and young people.

As a well-known peace campaigner she uses the arts in conflict resolution work amongst Cypriot communities. Until recently she was advisor to the London Mayor and Chair of Hackney Action for Racial Equality. She has set up and managed a large number of empowering projects as an intellectual activist over the last 30 years and has been an evaluator and project-monitoring officer for international projects.

Aydin’s most recent research includes the impact of September 11 on the TSCs in London. Her book, Turkish speaking communities and education: no delight (2001) has been highly praised. She is the editor/translator of Turkish Cypriot Identity in Literature. She set up FATAL (For the Advancement of Turkish-speakers Arts and Literature) a London-based NGO, which organises arts and literature festivals, events and workshops.

Aydin was project manager of three highly successful projects completed in November 2003, in Cyprus, including a children’s photographic project in a mixed village and a Family Cycling Day, which crossed the borders: both attracted wide media coverage.

She is one of the winners of the 2002 London New Writing Competition organised by London Arts and her short stories and poetry translations have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies. Pink Butterflies / Bize Dair, a collection of Aydin’s short stories and her sister’s poems – the story of two sisters separated by wars and part of the Cypriot Diaspora