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Ambassadorial shenanigans
Sep. 3rd, 2008 02:49 pmIt is by now an established fact that the old harpy is out of her mind, but sometimes she surpasses herself. Such events have to be duly recorded.
Foreign Embassies in every country are routinely guarded by one or more policemen, soldier or similar, put at the Embassy's disposal by the receiving country. Our Embassy's safety is guaranteed (*snerk*) by one individual. Said individual works long shifts and does of course have to answer a call of nature from time to time.
In principle, International Law forbids police or army of the receiving country to set foot on Embassy territory. This means that, still in principle, our policeman mustn't use the loo located in the consular section, next to the applicants' waiting room. The Ambassador could, however, authorize him to enter, without his weapon and merely for pipi purposes, the Embassy premises.
This seems to be a much too simple solution. Therefore she first suggested that we break through the Embassy's outer wall to create an extra pipi door for the policeman, and when I pointed out that, whichever door he used to enter, he'd still be inside, she wrote to the Ministry's dept. of International Law, asking them whether the policeman may have a leak at the Embassy. I must admit that I suggested she proceed that way, hoping that she'd really do it - the International Law dept. could use a laugh, I thought. It seems that they did, indeed, laugh their heads off.
There are other things less funny than this episode, though.
We have two local staff at the visa counter, one of whom must be sacked for a variety of reasons. That was the Inspector General's verdict in May, and the Inspector had told the Ambassador in no uncertain terms that it had to be done right away. To say that she didn't do anything is practically redundant. On the last day of my holidays (i.e. 22 August), she called the guy to her office and told him that a) he'd be sacked at some point in time and b) it was because of me. Do I need to mention that I wasn't informed? I suppose not. All I got was a copy of the report she'd sent the Ministry.
I guess it's self-explanatory that such behaviour is inacceptable. Not only because she didn't tell the truth, but also because it puts me into a very unpleasant situation: I have to work with the guy for I don't know how long, and if I give him instructions and he doesn't follow them, there's nothing I can do (can't very well threaten to terminate his employment...) Plus, a colleague at another Schengen Embassy here in Ankara got a death threat after sacking a local employee, which was taken so seriously that she had to leave Turkey. I'm not afraid of this happening to me, but still.
This time, I wrote a rather long report and sent it to the Ministry, which was a good thing, because the Inspector General is seeing her today (she's currently attending the annual Ambassador's Meeting in Vienna), and he'll have to say something about her handling of this case.
Last but not least, the ex-janitor: He faked receipts and payslips (the latter in order to get a loan) but was neither sacked nor denounced to the police - he was allowed to retire, with a fat severance payment.
Yesterday the receptionist let him enter the Embassy (!), where he talked to one of my staff, telling her that I had cheated him out of 12000 YTL severance payment (not true, because we always have our lawyer and tax consultant check our calculations), and that he's going to sue me personally. What's worse, he said that he's still in contact with the Ambassador (correct, and she still employs his wife in her household staff), who told him to keep her posted about the lawsuit.
I must say, I was absolutely livid and wrote to the Inspector General - less to get him to beat up the Ambassador than as a kind of insurance. He called me back immediately, and we talked for quite a while, and now I'm feeling a bit calmer.
There is a line between being an arsehole and putting people in danger, and she's definitely overstepped it this time. I wish I could be an invisible participant when she gets her dressing-down today...
In the meantime, I'll just have to re-watch The State Within and dream of an Ambassador like Sir Mark ;-))
Foreign Embassies in every country are routinely guarded by one or more policemen, soldier or similar, put at the Embassy's disposal by the receiving country. Our Embassy's safety is guaranteed (*snerk*) by one individual. Said individual works long shifts and does of course have to answer a call of nature from time to time.
In principle, International Law forbids police or army of the receiving country to set foot on Embassy territory. This means that, still in principle, our policeman mustn't use the loo located in the consular section, next to the applicants' waiting room. The Ambassador could, however, authorize him to enter, without his weapon and merely for pipi purposes, the Embassy premises.
This seems to be a much too simple solution. Therefore she first suggested that we break through the Embassy's outer wall to create an extra pipi door for the policeman, and when I pointed out that, whichever door he used to enter, he'd still be inside, she wrote to the Ministry's dept. of International Law, asking them whether the policeman may have a leak at the Embassy. I must admit that I suggested she proceed that way, hoping that she'd really do it - the International Law dept. could use a laugh, I thought. It seems that they did, indeed, laugh their heads off.
There are other things less funny than this episode, though.
We have two local staff at the visa counter, one of whom must be sacked for a variety of reasons. That was the Inspector General's verdict in May, and the Inspector had told the Ambassador in no uncertain terms that it had to be done right away. To say that she didn't do anything is practically redundant. On the last day of my holidays (i.e. 22 August), she called the guy to her office and told him that a) he'd be sacked at some point in time and b) it was because of me. Do I need to mention that I wasn't informed? I suppose not. All I got was a copy of the report she'd sent the Ministry.
I guess it's self-explanatory that such behaviour is inacceptable. Not only because she didn't tell the truth, but also because it puts me into a very unpleasant situation: I have to work with the guy for I don't know how long, and if I give him instructions and he doesn't follow them, there's nothing I can do (can't very well threaten to terminate his employment...) Plus, a colleague at another Schengen Embassy here in Ankara got a death threat after sacking a local employee, which was taken so seriously that she had to leave Turkey. I'm not afraid of this happening to me, but still.
This time, I wrote a rather long report and sent it to the Ministry, which was a good thing, because the Inspector General is seeing her today (she's currently attending the annual Ambassador's Meeting in Vienna), and he'll have to say something about her handling of this case.
Last but not least, the ex-janitor: He faked receipts and payslips (the latter in order to get a loan) but was neither sacked nor denounced to the police - he was allowed to retire, with a fat severance payment.
Yesterday the receptionist let him enter the Embassy (!), where he talked to one of my staff, telling her that I had cheated him out of 12000 YTL severance payment (not true, because we always have our lawyer and tax consultant check our calculations), and that he's going to sue me personally. What's worse, he said that he's still in contact with the Ambassador (correct, and she still employs his wife in her household staff), who told him to keep her posted about the lawsuit.
I must say, I was absolutely livid and wrote to the Inspector General - less to get him to beat up the Ambassador than as a kind of insurance. He called me back immediately, and we talked for quite a while, and now I'm feeling a bit calmer.
There is a line between being an arsehole and putting people in danger, and she's definitely overstepped it this time. I wish I could be an invisible participant when she gets her dressing-down today...
In the meantime, I'll just have to re-watch The State Within and dream of an Ambassador like Sir Mark ;-))
