Jeffrey Gedmin, President
Radio Free Europe - Radio Liberty, RFE/RL
1 Vinohradska st.,
Prague-1, 11000.
Czech Republic

                                                                                                                                   May13,2007

   Dear Mr. Gedmin,

   We are Circassians living in the Diaspora. We are shocked to hear of the reduction in broadcasts of your service in the Circassian language and upon enquiring found out that Mr. Temirov had been relieved of his job as a decision to reduce Circassian broadcasting on your service.

   This is really unfortunate because your Circassian broadcast was so well received, not only with Diaspora Circassians but mostly in the Caucasian republics themselves. We know of many intellectuals and authors, as well as politicians who daily listened to Murat's broadcasts. We know that they will be very disappointed to know of your decision.

   Murat's unique knowledge and convincing delivery of the news and other documentaries were well receievd in our motherland. Of course it took sometime for the brodacst transmisions to be known in the Caucasus, firstly because computers were not so readily available to people and secondly, the fact that the broadcast exisited could only go through with word of mouth promotions and personal messages, as indeed we had done ourselves.

   We think it would be unfortunate if your decision is final. We can at least hope that you may reconsider your programing and include more Circassian broadcasting...not less and to hear Murat Temirov's voice again. Our people are in need of the messages being transmitted by you.

Yours Sincerely
 M.I. Quandour
Author/Composer/Film Director

 Luba Balagova
Circassian Poet/Author

Jeffrey Gedmin, President
Radio Free Europe - Radio Liberty, RFE/RL
1 Vinohradska st.,
Prague-1, 11000.
Czech Republic

   Dear Sir,
   We found your address in the internet. I hope you receive this letter.
   We, as Circassians of the motherland and of the diaspora are very upset NOT to hear the voice of Murat Temirov on your radio transmission. We waited for sometime now thinking he might be on vacation but no information is available.

   We just heard from sources in the Republics of Adighey and Kabardino Balkaria that he is no longer working for you. This is very upsetting because frankly your programs no longer are as interesting. We hope you will find someone as good as Murat to give the news and documentaries he did so well.

   You must understand that Murat had created a real audience in Jordan and other diaspora countries as well as in the Caucasus.

   Now we are writing to you in their collective name to express our displeasure. If you are audience sensitive we hope to see some reaction from your side.

Yours Sincerely
Mukhtar Bashir
writing in the name of many Circassians.

  Dear Mr. President,

    It's a RFE/RL listeners from Kabardino-Balkarian republic, Russia.

   We have a lot of questions to your management! Why our listeners (kabardinians, circassians) don't have any information about circassian problems, history? Where is our pressmans, journalists in Kabardino-Balkariya, in Adigheya, and why we have only one reporter in Karachaevo-Cherkessiya?

  And why only this correcpondent have to tell us about all questions? What's the reason of this? We know that in Checheniyan republic they have a pressman in every region of republic.

   We listened our journalists with the great interest but some times ago circassian radio starts to be chechen!   why the reporters were dismissed? we have our own problems, we have a famous history, we liked to listen our reporters on OUR language, not on chechen language!!!

   Why the kabardinian and circassian people don't have so much pressman's?

   Circassians lives in a lot of countries of the world. And we don't have journalists in every country? Who can tell us about our history and news?


 Signed by Kabardinian and circassian families: Tembotov's, Tlenkopachev's, Tkhakokhov's, Kokov's, Musaev's, Afashagov's, Koshokov's, Zekoreev's, Nartokov's, Animokov's, Kumikov's, Maremshaov's, Marzhanov's and Murzakanov's.
At least 147 lady's and gentleman.

   To: gedminj@rferl.org, publicaffairs@ibb.gov , info@cpj.org

   Dear Mr President, Dear Governors, Dear Colleagues,

   I am writing to you in the first instance as a listener of the RFERL Circassian office, as a person who has no professional ties with RFERL at the moment, and as a man who expects from the President of RFERL an objective attitude towards that for which he is responsible.

  At the very beginning of my letter I would like to express my opinion on programs currently broadcast in the Circassian language. There is no need to mention the obvious: programs in the Circassian language
sometimes come to a state far from the listeners' expectations. This can be seen from questions raised on some internet forums, in Circassian chats and from personal conversations with listeners,
including those in the diaspora.

   Whether one agrees or not, it is in the times of personnel reshuffle that such things happen. Numerous
coincidences can be suggested, but in this particular case the tendency becomes the rule. One of the latest changes, the dismissal of Temirov, is worth singling out.  That could have been passed unnoticed
especially had the programs changed for the best. Much time has gone  by since then but radio has not improved, if not gone downhill.

   And yet, for me, a former employee who has a first-hand experience of work in the RFERL Northern-Caucasus office, these events are nothing  but trivial. The same scenario of "the dismissal of the unwanted" is played time after time. A dismissal of a professionally (or even mentally) unsuitable person is at least understandable. But it is obvious that Temirov is another victim of Mr Director Dukaev, well-known in the Circassian community as a Circassiaphobe.

   I would not wish to bring charges that would look like personal grudges for refusal to continue to work with me. But from my own experience I can  suggest some "reasons" for the dismissal. My conclusions and my disagreement with Dukaev's editorial policy are based on the fact that he demanded to work mainly on topics regarding Chechnya, Chechen  people or anything having even the slightest relation to them.

   Any suggestions to make a program of the same interest to a common Circassian listener but based on issues raised by the members of the diaspora were met with extremely vivid or even openly malicious
opposition from Director Dukaev. In the end, as it often happens at the RFERL Northern-Caucasus office, I found myself out of the game.

   I believe I am not the only one in this situation and there are other people who could tell a similar story about themselves and others  formerly dismissed, included in Dukaev's "list". I do not intend and have no desire to argue my professional aptitude or any of the other possible Dukaev's reasons for my dismissal. In this respect, I do not hold anything against Dukaev personally or RFERL in general. But I cannot stand idly by and watch the Circassian office become Chechen radio in the Circassian language.

   I sincerely believe that the Circassian people as a whole and those who have worked or are still
working at RFERL are not indifferent to the difficulties of the Chechen people. There is enough evidence of that.

   Our people went down the same path in the 19 th century and like no other can clearly understand the pain, suffering and consequences of the Russian policy in the Northern Caucasus.

   But to give purely partial appreciation to everything around you is short-sighted at the very least and, in my opinion, can lead to an opposite effect. Personally, as a regular listener I am getting the impression that what is being done is not done for the general good at all.

   You may argue that the events happening in the RFE Northern Caucasus office are justified and contribute to the common cause. Maybe. However facts do not support this point of view.

   How can one explain the absence of demand for Khatazhukov, the human rights activist well-known all over the Caucasus? Dukaev banned him from the air by his direct order.

   How can one explain unsuitability for RFERL of the  equally famous Tlisova who risked her own life on numerous occasions for the sake of justice? If you do not know, Dukaev dismissed her from the Northern Caucasus office in 2003, and she nearly lost her life while persevering with her journalistic activity in the region.  
   What can one say about Tekushev who did not only submit to the pressures imposed by Dukaev but continues his job in presenting objective information about events in the Caucasus? Who will be next? Temirov?

   And who and what will be left after that? The best talents of  Circassian journalism and literature were invited to cooperate with RFERL. Most of them are still unsurpassed in their work and enjoy renown among Circassian people.

  Moreover, Mr President, people in the broadcast coverage area are well aware of what is going on in the Northern Caucasus office and this affects the reputation of RFE correspondingly, i.e. not in the best of ways.

   Getting in contact with you (I think you would be interested to learn that your contact information is being circulated in the Circassian part of internet precisely within the context that is the object of this letter) I look forward to knowing your own opinion on the events, and my fellow countrymen and I hope for positive changes in RFE Circassian broadcasting.

   Otherwise the whole idea of broadcasting in the  Circassian language makes no sense whatsoever.
 
Yours faithfully,
Nacho Alim