Syrian embassy staff cry foul over ill-treatment by envoy
Armenian employees of the Syrian embassy in Yerevan
have written a letter complaining about the ambassador. The
Pan-Armenian news agency reported that Ambassador Abdul Hammed
Sallum is abusive and makes inappropriate remarks to staff
members.
"Sallum has been ambassador since August. Since he took office, the overall atmosphere in the embassy has worsened, while embassy employees have been witnessing cases of sexual harassment and degrading treatment," they claimed.
A statement circulated by embassy employees says that a letter of complaint was sent to the Syrian and Armenian foreign ministers in September.
"When each of us was accepting a job at the embassy, we thought that we would have to deal with serious diplomats. The working atmosphere at the embassy was mild and friendly. This was until 20 days ago. First the new ambassador dismissed a female cook working in his house as if acting based upon her own resignation. The reason for the dismissal was said to be her absence of a knowledge of Arabic. The ambassador threatened afterwards that only people speaking Arabic would be hired to work for the embassy, while others would be dismissed. We now have to learn Arabic not to lose our jobs," the letter said.
"Sallum has been ambassador since August. Since he took office, the overall atmosphere in the embassy has worsened, while embassy employees have been witnessing cases of sexual harassment and degrading treatment," they claimed.
A statement circulated by embassy employees says that a letter of complaint was sent to the Syrian and Armenian foreign ministers in September.
"When each of us was accepting a job at the embassy, we thought that we would have to deal with serious diplomats. The working atmosphere at the embassy was mild and friendly. This was until 20 days ago. First the new ambassador dismissed a female cook working in his house as if acting based upon her own resignation. The reason for the dismissal was said to be her absence of a knowledge of Arabic. The ambassador threatened afterwards that only people speaking Arabic would be hired to work for the embassy, while others would be dismissed. We now have to learn Arabic not to lose our jobs," the letter said.
Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention.
Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis.
By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more.
Subscribe
You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper
Thank you!