Ever since 2008, two teams from Mountainous Karabakh have participated in the “What, Where, When” TV game show’s Southern Caucasus competition that purports to test one’s mental prowess.

The competition is filmed in Georgia, and teams from Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan compete for the honor of being regarded as the smartest.

It’s not hard to imagine the uproar let loose by the Azerbaijani delegation every time they see the names of the two Artsakh teams - Stepanakert’s “Varanda” and “HayEr Kashatagh” – on the list of competitors.

Our neighbours use every trick in the book to prevent our team from participating or to force us to compete under another name.

Our teams are real, functioning teams that have ratings in the Association of International Clubs. They weren’t put together willy-nilly just to be sent to Georgia to irritate our neighbours to the East.

So, after all this, try and prove to the world that Kashatagh is an “occupied” region where only the rabble resides. The work of our neighbours was getting difficult.

A little note in passing. Aleksey Bogoslovsky, a well known intellectual from St. Petersburg who turned up in Azerbaijan’s “black list” for travelling to Artsakh on a friendly visit, once noted: “Essentially, if we take into account the population of Berdzor, your conditions, and accordingly draft a new grading system, then Berdzor would come out on top. The next ten spots would be empty and the other teams would come afterwards.

Let’s return to the “HayEr-Kashatagh” and the 2011 Southern Caucasus competition. As I noted, this is a “real” team that has participated in numerous contests and festivals in Yerevan, Gyumri, Stepanakert and Berdzor.

So why the “Er” (was) in the name of the team and not the present tense “Eh” (is)? Simple – the team no longer exists.

What happened? Did the Azerbaijanis scare us off? Did the Association of International Clubs strip us of our ranking? Did the “What, Where, When” competition lose its appeal? No, and again no.

Just take another look at the title of this article.

On August 2, 2011, immediately after returning from the latest round of the South Caucasus competition, I was ordered by Davit Davtyan, the Chief of Staff of the Kashatagh Regional Administrative, to provide an explanation for my “inexcusable absence from work”.

At the time I was the “HayEr-Kashatagh” team leader and held the post of leading specialists at the Kashatagh Regional Administration’s Division of Culture and Youth Affairs.

A few days later I received a notice that the NKR Civil Service Council had launched an official review to see whether or not I should be let go.

It was Davit Davtyan who requested the review and he got the enthusiastic backing of S. Khachatryan, head of the Administration.

I should point out to readers that one of my official duties was specifically to organize a local team to send to the competition.

The NKR Civil Service Council rejected the request of Davtyan and I am still working at my old job.

A new page in this affair soon opened. First, Davtyan gave me a strict reprimand about unjustified absences from the job – the same crazy story.

Then he started to follow my every move at work. He was a driven man and at times this led to ridiculous situations.

Once, in a letter dated October 20, he demanded that I provide an explanation as to where I was specifically on September 30 at exactly 2:15pm.

Whenever one attempted to speak positively, in the presence of the administration heads, regarding our participation at intellectual games, the following answer would always be heard – “Hey, they play those games for their pleasure. It’s also socially related work. If they don’t want it, let them stop. They shouldn’t mix it with the administration.”

Perhaps, socially-related work is viewed by these guys as “anti-state activity” and if a person receives pleasure from certain activities then it can only signify that the work is, in essence, not for the public good.

On the other hand, in all the administration’s reports it is properly noted that, “We have participated in various intellectual competitions and spurred intellectual development in the region.”

Whatever...I have now written the latest explanation demanded by Davtyan and have filed a suit at the administrative court to nullify the penalty levied against me. I am not at all prepared to give in.

But it’s not a matter of whether I will give in or not, but rather others are prepared to defend their rights at such a cost.

And the cases of dismissing people from their jobs for such ridiculous reasons here in Kashatagh are numerous.