To:

Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Georgia

Minister of Ecology of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Gusein Bagirov

Chairman of the Committee on Environmental Protection and Natural Resources at the Parliament of Georgia Mr. Akaki Bobokhidze

Advisor to the President of Georgia Mr. Mubaris Karaev

Member of the Council on Ethnic Minorities at the President of Georgia Mr. Zaur Khalilov

Public Defender of Georgia Mr. Giorgi Tugushi

Members of REC Caucasus Board

Dear Sirs! 

I’m very unhappy to officially appeal to you, yet in view of the complicated political situation in the Caucasus and the fact that hundreds of thousands ethnic Azerbaijanis and Armenians live together in Georgia, I have to do it in order to fulfill my civil and official duty.

It has been 12 years already that the Regional Environmental Center for the Caucasus (REC Caucasus or RECC, www.rec-caucasus.org) has been functioning in Tbilisi, being a unique regional organization in the South Caucasus established in the field of environment and sustainable development in the Caucasus region. European Union is the main donor of REC Caucasus, and RECC has had the privilege to cooperate with the US Environment Protection Agency (USEPA), Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), with the governments of Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Italy, and the principality of Liechtenstein.

REC Caucasus was established jointly by the governments of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, and is managed by the Board that represents the governments, donors, NGOs and academia from the three countries. In RECC’s main office in Tbilisi, the executive body of REC Caucasus is headed by three country directors nominated by the environmental ministries of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia  and approved by the RECC Board.

In this letter, I would refer to very inadequate behavior of RECC Director from Azerbaijan Ms. Melek Shukurova, who came to Georgia three years ago. Taking into consideration her young age, I, Rita Khidirbegishvili, RECC Administration and HR Officer , offered to Ms. Shukurova the genuine Georgian hospitality that went far beyond my official duties, and made everything to make Melek feel really at home in Tbilisi.

Yet after she got used to the new conditions, Ms. Shukurova started behaving very impolitely and aggressively, insulting the office staff, using obscene words, and humiliating human dignity of the staff (starting from me personally and to driver), provoking arguments almost daily and even throwing things around, which altogether caused a very nervous environment in the office.

Moreover, Ms. Shukurova started publicly and in excited tone making provocative xenophobic statements on any occasion, even minor ones that related only to RECC’s profile. The statements that targeted at rousing ethnic hatred in Georgia and created unhealthy environment among the multiethnic staff of the REC Caucasus were as follows: ‘You act against my country!’, ‘Azerbaijan and Bagirov are backing me up!’, ‘I hate Armenians, no contacts with Armenians!’, ‘We are getting ready for a war with Armenia!’. These are the ‘least insulting’ of the wide range of her statements that I dare cite in this official letter.

Dear Sirs!

I would appreciate if you would adequately respond to this alarming fact and would put an end to Ms. Shukurova’s destructive behavior that is incompliant with that of a CEU of an international organization and a representative of Azerbaijan. This is a direct violation of human rights and freedoms declared by the Georgian Constitution and punishable under the Georgian law, especially in view of the recent amendments to the Criminal Code approved by the Georgian Parliament on March 27 2012  that read as follows: ‘commitment of crime based on race, skin color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, religion, political and other views, restricted capabilities, citizenship, national ethnic and social belonging, origin, property status, place of residence or other discriminating reasons shall be considered an aggravating circumstance’;

- Ms. Shukurova’s behavior is contradictory to the spirit and charter of REC Caucasus that has a history of multiple joint projects and conferences as RECC’s business is not war but the peaceful endeavour of environmental protection. Our mission is to render assistance in solving environmental problems in the Caucasus by strengthening cooperation at the national and regional level between NGOs, governmental agencies, businesses and the public, increasing public involvement in decision-making and thus assisting countries of the Caucasus in further developing civil society;

- Ms. Shukurova’s behavior is contradictory to the traditions of tolerant Georgia, EU and US recommendations, ethnic policy of the Georgian President who has severely punished for xenophobia and stirring up ethnic hatred some public figures who are much more prominent than Ms. Shukurova;

- Ms. Shukurova’s behavior is contradictory to the policy pursued by the Ministry of Ecology of Azerbaijan, taking into consideration how warmly I, an ethnic Armenian, was received in Baku when I was head of administration of the Georgian Minister of Environment Ms. Nino Chkhobadze, namely, the hospitality of the Ministry of Ecology of Azerbaijan during my numerous official trips to the country. This is why it’s especially unpleasant to know that the scared staff of REC Caucasus are afraid of losing their jobs and therefore put up with Ms. Shukurova’s disgraceful actions and attacks and develop a false feeling that this lady has special authority for acting in this way given to her by the Azeri side.

Respectfully,

Rita Khidirbegishvili

Administration and HR Officer

Regional Environmental Center for the Caucasus,