[Tango-A] MİSC: Public complaint against Burak Ozkosem as organizer

[Meredith Klein]

İt was pointed out to me that İ typed July 2007 when İ, of course,
meant July 2006.  İ apologize for any confusion.

Meredith

On 29/03/07, Meredith Klein <meredithleeklein at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear list,
>
> I'm writing to ask that no one on this list support any of Burak
> Ozkosem's events.  I am very sorry to have to do this, but I've run
> out of options.  Andres Amarilla and I taught at Burak's TangoJoven
> festival in early July 2007 and we still have not been paid, although
> we fulfilled all the terms of our agreement.  Burak was obviously
> pleased with our work as he immediately invited us back to teach at
> the next TangoJoven festival.
>
> Not only did we dedicate 5 days of work to Burak's festival, but we
> put out money up front for our plane tickets--money that we still have
> not been reimbursed 9 months later.
>
> The initial check that Burak gave us bounced and despite at least 5
> requests for payment, we have received nothing.  More than 2 months
> ago, I emailed Burak to let him know that we were running out of
> patience and would be forced to make our problem public through a
> tango-L post if we did not receive prompt payment.  However, at this
> point, nearly 9 months after the end of the festival, we still have
> not received any payment.
>
> I am very concerned because Burak has some ambitious plans as an
> organizer in the next few months--another tango festival, this time
> featuring Julio & Corina and Tanghetto, as well as workshops with
> Fabian & Carolina.  If he truly doesn't have the money to pay us, as
> he claims, it seems very likely that he will not have the funds to
> fulfil his obligations to these other performers and teachers.  And
> for us, it is truly a slap in the face to see that he is planning
> events on such a scale when he has yet to pay us monies that he has
> owed us for three-quarters of a year.
>
> I apologize again for the post.  I will be sure to post to the list
> right away when we finally receive payment to let everyone know that
> the problem is resolved and to withdraw my request that list members
> not support Burak's events.  Meanwhile, if the payment remains
> outstanding, we will contact Julio & Corina, Tanghetto and Fabian &
> Carolina to let them know about our experience.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Meredith Klein
> meredithklein at gmail.com
> http://andresamarilla.com
>