Thembisa Fakude

Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research in Istanbul, Turkey. Deputy Chairperson Common Action Forum, Madrid, Spain. Columnist Middle East Monitor London, United Kingdom. Member of the Board Mail and Guardian, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Deniz Baran

Deniz Baran is a faculty member at Istanbul University’s International Law Department, and a lawyer registered to the Istanbul Bar Association, focusing on providing legal consultancy for foreign investors in Turkey and international investment arbitration cases. He is also contributing to Al Sharq Forum as its international law specialist. He is a PhD candidate in public international law at Istanbul University, where he also obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree.

Baran used to coordinate the International Law Research Center (UHAM) which is affiliated to Fatih Sultan Mehmet University. He has previously conducted numerous international youth projects as Turkey&Balkans Regional Coordinator of Al Sharq Youth, the Chairman of Istanbul Youth Assembly Foreign Affairs Commission, the Turkish Delegate for Y20 2016 China Summit and the Deputy Chair of YCDC (Youth Commission of Diplomacy and Collaboration).

With a keen interest in media, he has taken up writing articles regarding international legal matters for various media outlets such as Middle East Eye, Perspektif Online and Anadolu Agency. He is currently a regular contributor to Al Jazeera where he publishes legal Op-Ed pieces on a monthly basis. 

Nicci Enchmarch

Nicola Enchmarch is the Managing Director of Al Sharq Forum in the United Kingdom. She has a wealth of commercial and Not for Profit experience acquired over 20+ years in business and management consultancy roles across multiple industry sectors within the UK, New Zealand, Europe and the MENA region. Nicola has experience working in multi-national and cross-functional environments from enterprise-wide to micro-level projects. Nicola holds a BRS in Environmental Studies and continues to maintain an active interest within this field.

Mercedes Bellavista

Throughout her professional life, Mercedes has performed several roles, such as manager`s assistant, executive secretary, as well as project manager and worked with international companies, consulting firms and foundations in Spain, Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdom. With an excellent ability to assess any situation, Mercedes provides a personalized approach and a smooth and easy communication style, and has the ability to adapt to a wide variety of environments and cultures

Her current roles in Al Sharq Forum Geneva: Executive Secretary and Project Manager

Mohammad Affan

Mohammad Affan is the acting director of Al Sharq Strategic Research, the coordinator of Al Sharq Program on Political Islam, and the managing director of Al Sharq Academia. A medical doctor by training, he holds a Ph.D. from the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter. Also, he obtained his MA degree in Comparative Politics at the American University of Cairo. His thesis was published in Arabic as a book titled: ‘Wahhabism and the Brotherhood: The Conflict on the Concept of the State and the Legitimacy of Power.’ In addition, he holds a post-graduate diploma in Civil Society and Human Rights from Cairo University, a diploma in Political Research and Studies from the Institute of Arab Research and Studies, and a diploma in Islamic Studies from The Higher Institute for Islamic Studies, Cairo. His research interests include Islamism and democratization in MENA region.

Mehmet Emin Cengiz

Jawad Abazeed

Jawad Abazeed is the information specialist at Al Sharq Forum. He was the Community Coordinator for Al Sharq Youth Network from 2015 to 2016. He studied accounting at the University of Science and Technology in Yemen. Previously, he worked in accounting and operation management, and was an IT instructor.

Beshr Abdulhadi