Kriti Mehrotra
Directed by the renowned Liza Williams, Netflix’s ‘Attack on London: Hunting the 7/7 Bombers’ is a documentary series that truly lives up to its title in every way conceivable. It actually comprises not only archival and never-before-seen footage but also exclusive interviews to really shine a light upon the terrorism on London’s transport network in 2005. Mustafa Kurtuldu was one of the many who were affected by the devastating events, especially as he found himself facing racism as well as having to defend his religion within a day.
Mustafa Kurtuldu Was on His Way to Work When His Life Turned Upside Down
As a young British-Muslim entrepreneur who was always extremely proud of his identity, the series of events that took place starting from July 7, 2005, were extremely hard for Kurtuldu. He still vividly remembers the fateful morning despite the fact that it had begun as routine, with him waking up, getting ready for work, and then making his way to the Circle Line. He was admittedly zoned out with his headphones in when he got into a six-car train, only for a suicide bomber to detonate an explosive on it between Liverpool Street and Aldgate Station.
According to Mustafa, at 8:49 am, there was a sudden flash of light and a huge bang, following which the train lifted off the track before losing power in every sense. There was smoke, but the doors won’t open, so in the midst of all the chaos, as well as screams over time, the passengers had no choice but to either flee from the front or the back of the tube. It was then that the young man realized a bomb had gone off, as he could smell the burning debris and see some of the victims, driving him to take out his phone to record his exit from the underground. What he didn’t expect was that officials would ask to search him after he gave them his name, something he claimed they allegedly only did with him, owing to his name and race.
Mustafa was, unfortunately, no stranger to odd looks in public following 9/11, but this and a breakfast show host asking him about his opinions on extremist acts in the name of Islam on national television the very next morning baffled him. By this point, the suspects of the 4 bombings that had happened in quick succession across London hadn’t even been identified, so he felt as if he was being asked to explain he was not one of the bad guys. The 24-year-old had just been through a trauma, and now, after being invited on television, he was wondering if he would be persecuted on both sides of the coin for who he is. Thankfully, despite the ensuing alert across the city, heavy policing, and failed bombings on July 21, the race conversation dwindled down.
Mustafa Kurtuldu Has Managed to Build a Great Life For Himself
Mustafa Kurtuldu was reportedly just a young boy when he developed a deep interest in the world of art and design, resulting in his decision to ultimately pursue a career in the same rather creative field. Therefore, upon graduating from Stoke Newington School in 1996, he enrolled at Cordwainers College before enrolling at Middlesex University 2 years later for a Higher National Diploma in Graphic Design. It was during this period that he kickstarted his career as a Freelance Graphic and Web Designer, only to land a more permanent role once his studies were completed in 2000. That’s when he was hired as a Designer/Journalist at Project One Magazine, where he remained for a year, that is, until he got a chance to serve as a Lecturer at Barnet College and Middlesex University.
Mustafa spent 11 months in this position prior to moving on and working as a Web Designer at Exposure Media for another 11 months, just to then spread his wings by launching his own business. It was in 2003 that he became the Founder and Creative Director at Social Spider CIC, through which he provided all kinds of communication, design, and user interface services to a lot of brands. This is what he was doing at the time of the 2005 attacks too, but when the summer of 2008 rolled around and the recession hit, he had no choice but to close down shop and find a way to move on.
Mustafa’s experience and hard work resulted in him having a great reputation in his industry by the late 2000s, so he was subsequently able to land positions that suited his skill set while valuing him. He actually became a Senior Designer at Associated Newspapers, an Interface Designer at Bazaarvoice, a User Interface/UX Designer at CHP Consulting, and a User Experience Designer at Digital Science. After all this, he worked at Google as a UX Specialist for more than 6 years, at Twitter as a Staff Product Designer for 1½ years, as well as at Meta in the same position just over a year. It was in June 2024 when Mustafa joined Shopify, and he continues to proudly work here as a Staff Product Designer, all the while also dedicating his efforts to make a name for himself as a UX-based digital creator and public speaker.
Mustafa Kurtuldu Prefers to Keep His Private Life Away From the Limelight
While there’s no denying that Mustafa was once a working-class individual, he has since moved on from that bracket thanks to the unwavering motivation and support from his loved ones. The truth is he is unequivalently passionate about what he does and isn’t afraid to keep on learning or admitting when he doesn’t know something, which makes him even hungrier for success. That’s why he had decided to attend the London College of Communication in the early 2000s for a Bachelor’s degree in Typographic Media before also going to the Waterloo Academy in 2011 for some advanced courses and then undertaking an additional web development program from Ubiq in 2012. He did all this just to hone his skills and evolve into a content creator/public speaker to then provide a better future to his loving family, now seemingly also comprising a partner as well as kids. This industry specialist and travel enthusiast prefers to keep his private life well away from the limelight as of writing, but it’s evident that they are his everything.
Read More: Muktar Said Ibrahim: Where is the 7/7 Failed Bomber Now?
