NEW CAMPAIGN TO RE-OPEN MELKONIAN
Claudia Konyalian
Cyprus Mail
April 23 2009
A RENEWED campaign to save and reopen the Melkonian Educational
Institute (MEI) has been launched in the form of an international
petition through an on-line facility, , and is running
until the middle of May.
"This petition is published not only in Cyprus, but also in newspapers
in the US, Canada, Armenia, Lebanon, Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria, and
is not limited to Armenians, but to anyone who supports the cause,"
said Masis der Parthogh, a Melkonian alumnus and one of the main
protagonists in the movement to save the troubled, historic school.
"We are hoping to collect at least 8,000-10,000 signatures. Once we
have a significant number, we will form a delegation to see President
Christofias about the future of the school," der Parthogh said.
On the timing of these actions, der Parthogh explained that the
two-year lease between the the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU)
and the Ministry of Education to house the Aglandjia Gymnasium at the
Melkonian facilities – while the Gymnasium was undergoing repairs –
is expiring this summer. The Ministry has requested an extension,
according to der Parthogh, to remain at Melkonian further. Meanwhile,
however, the current AGBU chairman visited Cyprus in January to meet
President Christofias and House President Garoyian.
"Our fear was that he was here to settle the issue of the estate once
and for all," der Parthogh said. "Obviously they [AGBU] aspired to
have the preservation orders removed, hence the high-level meetings,"
he added.
This rent-free agreement made by the AGBU, whose Central Board in
New York decided on the closure of the Melkonian school in 2005, amid
rampant allegations that the land was to be sold off for profit, was
seen by many as a ‘good PR stunt’ in building relations with the local
authorities. The AGBU had been entrusted with the administration of
the MEI by the founding Melkonian brothers. Legal proceedings ensued
against the AGBU, leading only to a "legal stalemate" – the judges in
Nicosia deciding there were no grounds to proceed – while a similar
case is still "lingering in court" in the US, der Parthogh said.
Students, parents, teachers, and members of the Armenian community
in Cyprus and across the diaspora were outraged at the decision that
brought an end to the only Armenian secondary school in the European
Union with a unique boarding facility that attracted students from
around the world for nearly eight decades, giving young diaspora
members the opportunity to study together and maintain their language,
culture and history. The lease deal nevertheless came as a welcome
delay in the proceedings that threatened the selling off of the real
estate in a prime area of Nicosia, where the 83 year old school stands.
Established in 1926, the Melkonian Educational Institute (MEI)
first operated as an orphanage that housed hundreds of Genocide
survivors. The trees making up the mature forest in front of the school
were planted by the orphans themselves to represent those Armenians
that survived around the world, and this land is part of the 60 per
cent of the total 125,000 sq.m. plot that is under preservation order
by the Cyprus Government. A memorial to the founding Melkonian brothers
stands on the school’s grounds.
"Thousands of Armenians who have passed through the Melkonian have
excelled in their communities, becoming leaders in their fields and
contributing to the development of the Armenian culture, education,
language and national identity," the petition website states.
"The government has some obligations toward the Melkonian," der
Parthogh said, pointing out that the MEI is mentioned in the Council of
Europe Charter on Minority Languages, to which Cyprus is subscribed,
as well as to maintain the preservation order that is in currently
in place.
Along with the petition, the group will present revised plans for
the reopening of the school that have been developed by educational
experts from outside Cyprus, taking into consideration future trends
in education, der Parthogh said. The school is important not only
historically, he explained, but to preserve the community’s heritage,
language and culture, that is threatened by the closure of the MEI.
"With no option for continued Armenian education, many parents are
choosing not to send their children to the Nareg elementary schools
either, which potentially threatens those schools’ future also," der
Parthogh said, while referring to a similar situation developing in
Greece. He added that the movement to reopen the MEI is supported in
full by the Armenian Representative in Parliament, Vartkes Mahdessian,
and has the backing of DISY MP Dr. Eleni Theocharous and Green Party
Spokesman, George Perdikis.