Melkonian future seems to hang in the balance

(Cyprus Weekly, Friday, November 14, 2003)

By Philippos Stylianou

The fate of the Melkonian Institute, the Armenian community's pride and a Nicosia landmark for 77 years, is hanging in the balance as the US-based administrative board has decided to reassess its function together with that of 20 other Armenian schools world wide.

The news has caused consternation among the 3,000 Armenians of Cyprus and their elected Representative, Petros Kalaidjian, is flying to Paris for a meeting on Saturday with the President and Vice-President of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) in an effort to ascertain their intentions ahead of a final decision to be taken in New York in December.

“So far they have been vague about what they want to do and there is really nothing specific, but I want to meet them face to face and extract a commitment that the Melkonian will not be sold,” Kalaidjian told the Cyprus Weekly.

School Committee member Vahak Adamian said rumours about selling the Melkonian had been going for the past ten years acting as a brake on improvement work both on the premises and the educational facilities.

Reports suggest that the AGBU board may have been tempted by the excess value of the school as prime real estate and are considering to use this in the context of a general financial overhaul.

The 1926 stone buildings together with the surrounding land area of 125,000 square metres at the entrance to Nicosia is estimated at $40 million. The daily ‘Politis’ reported that two offers have already been received for the purchase of the land, one for $50 million and another of CYP 40 million ($80 million).

An AGBU representative has been visiting Cyprus to prepare a report on alternative solutions, taking into consideration the school's financial problems. The solutions could include selling the school and transferring the students to another one operating in a neighbouring country, or selling it and opening a less expensive one in Cyprus.

“Not only the Armenian community of Cyprus but the whole of the Diaspora is against closing down the Melkonian,” Kalaidjian said.

He added, however, that he did not know the views prevailing within the 21-member AGBU board, where there was a sole Cypriot, UN Undersecretary General Benon Sevan.

The Melkonian Alumni Association members are also up in arms against the idea of selling their old school. Vice-President Masis der Parthogh said that the new committee which took over in September has been active to find new assets and also a new role for the school.

He told the Cyprus Weekly that they had submitted several alternatives to AGBU in New York on how to preserve the school.

Commenting on the reasons that may have caused the AGBU to tamper with the Melkonian, der Parthogh expressed the view that the continued economic recession could have adversely affected AGBU investments and they [the AGBU] were now looking into their projects to see which ones were ‘counterproductive’.

While the decrease of students could be another one of the excuses, der Parthogh suggested that the school’s running costs in Cyprus were seen as much higher than in other countries where Armenian schools operated.

“With the opening up of former socialist countries in Europe, such as Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Armenia itself, the AGBU believes there are now less expensive alternatives to Cyprus,” der Parthogh said.

Melkonian students are down to 206 from 250 last year, confirmed Vahak Adamian. He said the majority came from overseas, paying $5,000 a year as boarders, while only 45 or so were Cypriot Armenians, receiving an annual subsidy of CYP 1200 each from the Government. The state also provides teaching staff for Greek language classes.

Foreign students have to pay their way, but the AGBU covers all the expenses of a small number of students from Armenia who are earthquake victims.

Asked why Armenians from western European countries would want to send their children to Melkonian, Adamian said that the school had a tradition and a reputation of offering the best teaching of the Armenian language.

“This and the fact that Cyprus is an ideal place for youths to grow up in safety and pleasant surroundings means there can be no substitute for the Melkonian anywhere else,” Adamian said.

The Melkonian Institute was built as an orphanage by the brothers Krikor and Garabed Melkonian soon after the Armenian massacres in Turkey. They later donated it to the Armenian General Benevolent Union.

Petros Kalaidjian said the financial problems of the Melkonian could easily be resolved with help from the Government, which it was obliged to extend anyway by virtue of its EU accession.

He said the issue had been raised with the former Minister of Education and Culture and it will be resumed with new Minister Pefkios Georghiades in a meeting scheduled for 20 November.

Kalaidjian will be meeting the AGBU leadership in Paris in the framework of the Benevolent Union's Pan-European executive congress to which he has been invited.