Thoughts on Timur Gareyev

Hi guys! In the last couple of years, I traveled a lot with Timur and he was been not only a kind host but also my impressions of him are intensely ethical. He organized a search party for me when I lost my Greencard, offered support in numerous ways, encouraged me to say good morning to random people while traveling, was a kind host, generous to many, and consistently acted with no ego.

In many ways this is beyond unbelievable for a super-GM, who mainly seemed to want to be approached as a person, and talked to many people as such without introducing himself, probably in order to get less attention. I've never seen Timur do anything that could remotely be interpreted as harassment, despite spending months traveling together. Given my ethical impressions, I am inclined to believe recent accusations are a misunderstanding. Take this as my vouching for Timur as a person, rather than making claims beyond this - how should I know?

While I could say more, this could feel defensive and perhaps not accurately reflect the intentions of everyone else involved. I would rather stick to the facts and not accuse anyone, including the original accusers. How can anyone benefit here...!? More valuable is to have authentic discussions without public accusations, in my opinion. Could we brainstorm ways to help make this feel safe so that people can boldly speak, without needing to tear down others in order to feel heard?

While I was reluctant to speak in public given that this could "feed the trolls" -- or accelerate negative discussion by 'playing by the rules of the accusers', I would like my position to be known: I trust Timur in general, and don't like public accusations. There are ways to support ethical values and public safety + holding people accountable without going public with accusations, especially ones that haven't been proven. It would also be nice to be able to make public statements without being accused "you defended such and such? you must hate women!" as though it's not possible to hold multiple perspectives in mind. I find it important for people to be able to have tense discussions, and if everyone gets emotional, how can this be possible? Let's stick to the facts.