UN
Bratislava
Center Slated
to Be Moved to
Turkey, By
Turkish UNDP
Official
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 16 --
The UN is
poised to
close its
Bratislava
Center
and move
dozens of jobs
held by
Slovaks to an
increasingly
powerful
country in the
UN and the
world, Turkey,
sources tell
Inner City
Press.
Giving
rise
to complaints
not only in
Slovakia but
elsewhere in
the UN
system is that
the official
making the
stealth move
is herself
Turkish.
Six
months ago,
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon named
"Ayse
Cihan
Sultanoglu of
Turkey as
Assistant
Administrator
and Director
of
the Regional
Bureau for
Europe and the
Commonwealth
of Independent
States" for
the UN
Development
Program.
And
now she moves
the UNDP
Bratislava
Regional
Center for
Europe and the
CIS to
Istanbul --
"subject to a
feasibility
study but that
will
no doubt come
up with the
right
answers," as
one Inner City
Press source
puts it.
Inner
City Press has previously
covered this
Bratislava
Center,
getting
UNDP to admit
that
then-director
"Ben Slay
sometimes
works from
the Vienna
office"
while
ostensible
running the
Bratislava
Center. This
was part of a
series on
UNDP,
resulting in a
press
release
against Inner
City Press by
UNDP, since
mimicked by
others.
Now
the Bratislava
Center is
slated to be
closed, and
some 80 Slovak
jobs
put in
jeopardy.
Inquiring
into
the process of
this decision
making, a well
place source
tells
Inner City
Press that
Cihan
Sultanoglu
"informed
the
acting
director of
the Bratislava
Regional
Center on or
around
Monday 13th
August. The
director
designate,
Olivier Adam,
was
visiting the
Bratislava
Regional
Center at that
time and
claimed that
he did not
know prior to
this. The
acting
director made
an
announcement
at a staff
meeting in
Bratislava on
15th August.
No
announcement
has been made
by Cihan
herself.
"The
only person
who appears to
have known in
advance of her
intentions is
Dmitri
Mariassin. He
is the
'partnerships
adviser' in
Bratislava and
reputed to be
Cihan’s close
confidante.
She thus
apparently
shared
her views with
one member of
staff while
the 70 Slovaks
who will
probably all
lose their
jobs, the
acting
director, and
director
designate were
not informed.
"It
is also known
by the way
that the
recruitment of
the new
Bratislava
Center
director was a
pure fix and
that Cihan had
decided he
should
get the job in
advance. At
the same time
she has
arranged to
bring
back Ben Slay,
who used to be
the Bratislava
director, as a
Practice
Manager – of
course without
any
recruitment
procedures
(apparently
as 'a move
within the
same business
unit'). Junior
staff are
livid
since they all
have to apply
for jobs in
the normal
way, plus Ben
was
known as an
awful manager.
The
Ombudsman’s
office has
picked up on
this one."
We'll
see
-- watch this
site.
, 
