VIA E-MAIL 8 June 2012

FIDE Secretariat 9
Siggrou Avenue
Athens, Greece
11743

Attention: Presidential Board, Chairman of FIDE Ethics Commission

Dear Sirs,

We are writing to register a formal protest at the actions of the Turkish Chess Federation (TCF) in its selection of the arbiters to officiate at the 40th Chess Olympiad, as set out in the open letter from the TCF President, Mr Ali Nihat Yazici, published on the FIDE website.

In this letter, Mr Yazici states:

A list was drawn up, respecting the proposals of the Continental Presidents. However, on behalf of TSF, we have refused to accept some of the names on that list. These refusals are in no way personal, they are solely related to matters of chess and its well-being.

Some federations launched or supported court cases against FIDE and thus created financial problems for FIDE and a loss of distributable income for worldwide chess development. We believe that the damage that they thus inflicted on chess development around the world should be repaired by them reimbursing the lost funds, so that those funds can, as originally budgeted, be spent on chess development. We further believe that until that has been done, those federations should not be given any arbiter or Appeals Committee position by FIDE.

The letter goes on to refer to seven (unnamed) federations, which from the context must mean the five federations which took legal action against FIDE in 2010 (France, Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine and the USA) plus the two federations who have an ongoing action against FIDE in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Georgia and England).

It should be noted that Mr Yazici is himself one of the Vice Presidents of FIDE whose appointment is under challenge in the ongoing legal action.

In admitting to the exclusion of individuals from the role of arbiter on this basis, the TCF President is in breach of FIDE Statute 1.2, which states:

FIDE is concerned exclusively with chess activities. FIDE is democratically established and bases itself on the principles of equal rights of its members. FIDE is a non profit making organisation.“It rejects discriminatory treatment for national, political, racial, social or religious reasons or on account of gender.

It is also in violation of the FIDE Code of Ethics, article 2.2.3, which refers to:

Organizers, tournament directors, arbiters or other officials who fail to perform their functions in an impartial and responsible manner.

The open letter from Mr Yazici acknowledges that nominated individuals from seven federations were excluded because of legal action taken by those federations against FIDE. This is irrelevant to the selection of the Olympiad arbiters and cannot be considered anything other than a discriminatory political act.

As the Olympiad is an official FIDE event, the organisers have a clear duty to adhere to the FIDE Statutes and FIDE Code of Ethics. We are formally requesting that the Presidential Board and Ethics Commission consider this matter urgently and demand that the Turkish Chess Federation reconsider its appointments, this time in an impartial and non- discriminatory fashion.

Please confirm receipt of this message.

Yours faithfully,

English Chess Federation

This letter is supported by the following FIDE members, listed in alphabetical order:

French Chess Federation
German Chess Federation
Swiss Chess Federation
Ukrainian Chess Federation
United States Chess Federation

The ACP Board has received an official letter from the number of world's leading chess federations, with the request to react on the public statement of the President of the Turkish Chess Federation, Mr. Ali Nihat Yazici: http://www.fide.com/images/stories/NEWS_2012/Olympiad_2012/statement_of_...

We know Mr.Yazici as a proactive chess organizer, who managed to organize a significant number of a high-level events in Turkey. Thanks to his efforts, the Olympiad 2012 was granted to Istanbul.

However, the ACP Board sees his decision not to invite any principal or arbiter from England, France, Georgia, Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine and USA as a very dangerous precedent, which contradicts the very spirit of the "Gens Una Sumus" motto and violates the FIDE statutes.

We would like to remind Mr. Yazici and the whole chess community, that Olympiads were always seen as a major event which unites people, and in good old days, all the wars were terminated, when the Olympiad was about to start.

We firmly believe, that the World Chess Olympiad should not become a battlefield, and it is unacceptable to ban any federation on political or other grounds.

We have been informed, that if the situation doesn't change, some of the affected federations would consider to boycott the Olympiad altogether and not to send their players to Istanbul.

The ACP Board calls on FIDE to urgently discuss the situation and to resolve it fairly by respecting the rights and duties of all the parties involved.

The ACP Board also appeals personally to the President of the Turkish Chess Federation Mr. Ali Nihat Yazici, asking him to take one step back and to reinforce the Olympic spirit of peace, friendship and unity, even at the cost of sacrificing the very views of the National Federation he represents.

ACP Board
11 June 2012