Turkish President proposes eviction of ECF from FIDE

[Laurence Ball]

As mentioned before by Malcolm Pein, if an election is on the FIDE General Assembly is like a circus.
Perhaps one good thing that may come from this whole thing is that it has been proposed that "complainers" must first appeal to the Ethics Committee.
Having been on the Ethics Committee from 2006 to 2010 I can vouch that it is (or certainly was) run on a pretty sensible and fair basis.

[Gavin Strachan]

I know it is a minor side issue but for a formal letter the grammar and punctuation is aweful.

[Richard James]

the grammar and punctuation is aweful.

Is they? Is the spelling aweful as well?

[Paolo Casaschi]

I know it is a minor side issue but for a formal letter the grammar and punctuation is aweful.

You have to admit though, he was kind enough to write in your language.
How aweful would your grammar and punctuation be in Turkish?

[Gavin Strachan]

Glad u spotted the deliberate mistake highlighting the point. If I was to do it in Turkish I would get it translated and checked by someone who can read/write Turkish (if that is name of their national language).

[Roger de Coverly]

The Chess Scotland forum has reported that the Turkish Federation withdrew their motion.

[JustinHorton]

I suspect what will make Ali wind his neck in (and I'm glad to see that phrase again after a few years, I've always liked it) will be people laughing in his face.

[JustinHorton]

by someone who can read/write Turkish (if that is name of their national language).

Türkçe.

(Of course I could have looked that up, but my wife lived in Izmir for three years, so I asked her.)

[Alex Holowczak]

The Chess Scotland forum has reported that the Turkish Federation withdrew their motion.

I noticed this a few days ago, but kept quiet about it because I thought it might have been me misunderstanding.

The GA agenda had an amended proposal from Turkey, which proposed banning the original five countries, and not England and Georgia. Presumably Turkey subsequently withdrew even that proposal.

[Angus French]

I suspect what will make Ali wind his neck in (and I'm glad to see that phrase again after a few years, I've always liked it) will be people laughing in his face.

The withdrawal of the motion was captured on video (HT: Susan Polgar's blog). It was over in a matter of seconds and, so far as I can make out, went like this:
Makropoulos: "Now, Ali, I’d like to be so kind to withdraw your next proposal."
Yazici: "I never aimed to even admit this proposal I would be against ... So there’s no chance that someone should be out of FIDE. I withdraw it. Of course. My pleasure ... Only it was a reason to discuss it; nothing else."

If the video is allowed to run a little further, FIDE Treasurer, Nigel Freeman, can be seen talking about the "Five Vice-Presidents case" brought against FIDE by the English and Georgian chess federations. Although acknowledging receipt of 75,000 Swiss Francs for the award of costs, he reckons that 50,000 of something is still owing to FIDE... FWIW, I checked the text of the CAS decision and couldn't see what it was that had been referred to.

[David Sedgwick]

The Chess Scotland forum has reported that the Turkish Federation withdrew their motion.

I noticed this a few days ago, but kept quiet about it because I thought it might have been me misunderstanding.

The GA agenda had an amended proposal from Turkey, which proposed banning the original five countries, and not England and Georgia. Presumably Turkey subsequently withdrew even that proposal.

It's academic now, but I think you did misunderstand.

Although the text of the GA agenda described the proposal as referring only to the original five Federations, the proposal itself - contained in Annex 60 - specifically mentioned all seven.

I'm not aware of their having been an amended version of Annex 60.

Edit. I stand corrected. Alex has emailed me confirming that the proposal was amended at a late stage, prior to being withdrawn entirely.

[Lara Barnes]

My copy of the agenda that we were using on the day had the 7 federations listed in annex 60, the letter.

I was not permitted to speak on this point, or the license fees for arbiters - which had a formal item on the agenda from the Dutch Chess Federation - they were not permitted to speak either and the matter was closed by the chairman.

After lunch the Dutch delegate 'insisted' that there would be a vote on their proposal. This was deferred until Sunday - when the chairman said that after consulting lawyers the GA did not have to discuss or take a vote on the matter if the chair decides otherwise.

I was completely 'gobsmacked' at this and spoke to the chairman afterwards. He shouted at me and said that 'people like you don't want to contribute anything to chess' - which I found extremely insulting. I had been going to speak supporting some registration/license for arbiters in order to cut down the vast list. I was worried that some (e.g.CACDEC as was) countries' arbiters could not afford the 100, 200 and 300 Euro prices for them. Even our arbiters, being mostly teachers, students or pensioners, will find this difficult to find.

[David Sedgwick]

My copy of the agenda that we were using on the day had the 7 federations listed in annex 60, the letter.

I was not permitted to speak on this point, or the license fees for arbiters - which had a formal item on the agenda from the Dutch Chess Federation - they were not permitted to speak either and the matter was closed by the chairman.

After lunch the Dutch delegate 'insisted' that there would be a vote on their proposal. This was deferred until Sunday - when the chairman said that after consulting lawyers the GA did not have to discuss or take a vote on the matter if the chair decides otherwise.

I was completely 'gobsmacked' at this and spoke to the chairman afterwards. He shouted at me and said that 'people like you don't want to contribute anything to chess' - which I found extremely insulting. I had been going to speak supporting some registration/license for arbiters in order to cut down the vast list. I was worried that some (e.g.CACDEC as was) countries' arbiters could not afford the 100, 200 and 300 Euro prices for them. Even our arbiters, being mostly teachers, students or pensioners, will find this difficult to find.

Welcome to the FIDE General Assembly.

At the four FIDE Congresses which I've attended, I've not been near the GA. However, in general I've found meetings of the Commissions to be far more constructive.

[Lara Barnes]

I enjoyed the commission meetings, indeed they were constructive, however, when their reasonable suggestions were brought before the GA it seemed to be the Chairman's opinion that mattered most, then the treasurer, then the rest of the board. The GA could have overturned any of these decisions but all the 'developing countries' seemed to vote/concur with the board.

There was a polarisation between Europe and the rest of the world at times!

[Angus French]

Videos of the GA meetings are available here.

I've glanced at a few and in each it appears to me that FIDE Deputy President Mr. Georgios Makropoulos is very much in control.
I thought Nigel Short asked good questions/made good points in video 11 (concerning Sébastien Feller and his results in the 2010 Olympiad) and video 9 (concerning AGON).
The video titled '2012 FIDE General Assembly - Legal Matters' (concerning the costs incurred by FIDE in defending the Karpov CAS case and how these should be funded) seemed to me to be strange. FIDE officials and delegates were queueing up to bash the federations which had brought the case and which hadn't even apologised for their actions. No one thought, or dared, to ask why CAS had limited the award of costs.