UAFA` director Ms. Gwen Burchell MBE from Baku, Azerbaijan addressed a letter to UK Prime Minister David Cameron. The letter reads:

`I am sorry to learn that you will not be attending the Baku2015 First European Games which opens tomorrow JUNE 12, 2015.

I am a UK citizen who has grown up and benefited from all the privileges of British society, from the education, health and social services to a thriving civil society and a trust between people that I now understand is rare to find. I have also spent the past 18 years living and working in Azerbaijan, and so I feel in a unique position, having deeply understood two very different cultures, to question the decision not to have UK representation at the highest level at the European Games.

Democracy and human rights can easily be seen through a very narrow perspective and, during my years here, I have noticed an increasingly hostile international UK media approach that belies my own experiences in Azerbaijan.

I do not write in order to debate the rights and wrongs of any particularly regime – none are perfect – but I do question the wisdom of your not attending the European Games, particularly as the team who have spent the past 2-3 years of their lives planning it are mainly UK citizens and there is a particularly British perspective to the Games, as the planning has been built on the successes achieved by this team during the London Olympics in 2012.

I’m a strong believer in the power of positive actions being the building blocks for reforms and improvements in economic, social and political policies. Not attending the Games sends out a powerful, negative message which is surely not the way to build effective relationships with regimes that one already cooperates with economically and wants to cooperate with further.

In the early days of my life in Azerbaijan, my father gave me some valuable advice, based on his years of experience in the oil industry and working with nations that are influenced by Islamic culture: ‘always make sure that negotiations are a win-win situation – do not let the person you are negotiating with lose face’ – and this advice has helped me to build a strong organisation in a challenging environment, despite so many times being told by locals and foreigners that I would never achieve what I am setting out to achieve under this regime.

It’s only by keeping talking, and interacting, and working together that we can effect change and improvement in the world beyond our shores. Presence and interaction does not necessarily imply approval; rather, it implies a statesmanlike courage and willingness to engage.

There is a big difference between regime change and an upgrade.

With best regards,
Gwen Burchell MBE`

You can read the original letter HERE

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