From the Office of Mr. Bedros Kalaydjian

Representative of the Armenian Community in Parliament

I would like to express my dire concern over all that is happening and all that is being published in the media regarding the future of the historic Melkonian School in Nicosia that seems to be uncertain.

This Institute has contributed significantly both in its support of the Diaspora after the Great Destruction of the Armenian nation, as well as today when the worldwide conditions and continued conflicts make it more difficult to provide a comprehensive and free education to the new generation of the 21^st century.

Since 1926 the Melkonian School has become an integral part of Cyprus society and has contributed significantly to the island’s development. At the same time it has supported the just cause of Cyprus through the thousands of students and graduates that have passed through its gates and returned to their home countries as the new Ambassadors of Cyprus, in particular where there is no significant Greek Cypriot community. 

The operators of the school plan at a first stage to shut down the boarding house. Since 80% of the students are residents of the boarding house and are not Cypriots, they will be forced to abandon Cyprus after which the school will no longer be viable for a smaller number of local students. The difficult days that await the school may force it to shut its gates for good and its environs sold off in the name of commercial development. And this at a time when the state Town Planning Department has declared the historic facilities as “preserved national heritage” buildings, itself a great honour for Armenians. 

I call upon all those concerned to help in the efforts to preserve the school as a Historic International Educational Institute together with its Boarding House, unique to Cyprus, as well as the greater region and the New United Europe of 25.