Taha is responsible for GML’s presence in Kazakhstan, and from there provides the firm with coverage of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. He also travels frequently to Turkey, where he was born, and bases himself in Ankara from time to time. Taha is GML’s finest linguist, with a command of English, Russian, Turkish, Uzbek, Kazak, Kyrgyz and Azeri.

Born in Turkey, he has Turkish citizenship, and enjoys residency in Kazakhstan. Six years of training in medicine at the Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty in Istanbul led to a year of specialisation in psychiatry at Justus-Liebig University, Giessen, Germany. The lure of commerce proving too great, he moved to Istanbul in 1991 to become a Director of Sunpak Travel Company, and from there moved to Switzerland. Between 1992 and 1994 he managed Uzbek Trading, a joint venture between Uzbekistan and a private sector German firm, which mediated flows of Uzbek goods (such as cotton) to Europe. This was followed by a period with a German firm sending goods in the opposite direction, from Europe into Central Asia. Before joining GML in late 1996, Taha spent time managing Prisma International in Turkey, importing oil, and exporting a variety of goods to Central Asia.

Taha is married with two year old twin boys, and he and his family enjoy a hectic schedule of travel around Turkey and Central Asia. A skilled ten-pin bowler, Taha has also been known to lead the action on the dance-floor, with his characteristic ‘whoop!’