London – 8th March 2016

On this, the International Women’s Day, the Mevlana Rumi Mosque Board of Trustees are delighted to announce that it has appointed Mrs Seval Gokce as the new Executive Director of the mosque located in Edmonton Green, London. Mrs Gokce will be supported by a team of Imams and staff.

Mrs Gokce will be responsible for all matters pertaining to the management of the mosque. The Trustees ask that she builds on the mosque’s practice to date to offer an inclusive, wide reaching, warm and engaging model that is in tune both with the contemporary needs of British Muslims as well as the issues and concerns of wider society.

A teacher by profession with ten years of experience, Mrs Gokce was Deputy Head Teacher of a London Grammar school prior to this appointment. The Trustees are confident that she will bring her years of experience in teaching, education and management to the mosque and supports her wholeheartedly.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, Mrs Ilknur Kahraman, said:

“We are delighted to make this appointment. While we are aware of the rarity of a woman heading a well-established UK mixed mosque we would like to point out that Seval was not appointed due to her gender but because we genuinely believe that she is the best person for the job. While this is a change of sector for her, we are confident that with her skill set and the support of the community she will make an excellent Executive Director of Mevlana Rumi Mosque.”

Mrs Seval Gokce, the new head of the mosque, said:

“I’m very excited about this new role and the challenges that lay ahead. I’d like to thank the Board of Trustees for trusting in me to fulfill this role. I’m a team-playing leader and believe that for any community project to work we need to bring the community on board and draw as much support from as many people as possible. I look forward to enlisting that support and building on the great work that has already been achieved at this mosque so far.”

The Dialogue Society supports the work and efforts of Mevlana Rumi Mosque.

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Notes to Editors

Founded in 2008, Mevlana Rumi Mosque is located in Edmonton Green in North London. It has a weekly turnover of fifteen hundred worshippers, two hundred weekly students and a range of weekly interfaith events and meetings. It takes its name after the famous 13th century Islamic theologian, Mevlana Jalaleddin Rumi who emphasised the essential Islamic teachings of love, charity, care and commitment to others and an emphatic acceptance of diversity. For more information please visit our website which is currently being updated at www.rumimosque.uk. To get in touch, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .