Cyprus parliament says ‘NO’ to AGBU decision - approves unanimous motion to save Melkonian

Nicosia – Cyprus News Agency – March 26, 2004

Considering that the Melkonian Institute is an inseparable part not only of the cultural and historical heritage of the Armenians but all of Cyprus in general, the House of Representatives plenary session unanimously approved Friday a resolution expressing its intense disapproval and protests the decision to terminate its operation.

With the motion tabled at the evening session of the legislative body by the Chairman of the parliamentary Committee for Education Affairs, DYSI (Democratic Rally) party deputy Prodromos Prodromou, the House plenum “calls on the Cyprus government to undertake the necessary initiatives to prevent the fait accompli that the administrators from New York are trying to create.”

The House, says the motion, was informed “with great concern” about the intentions of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) to terminate the operation of the Melkonian Institute as a full Armenian secondary education school.

Possibly, according to the explanatory remarks of the motion, the termination of the school’s operation is related to the intentions to change the purpose of the grounds for commercial development or even for the liquidation of all or part of the inheritance of the Melkonian brothers.

The House of Representatives believes that this school, as it operates today, plays an important educational and cultural role contributing to the schooling and development of young Armenians, and also enhancing their unique identity and that only plans and efforts should be undertaken to support this.

Taking into consideration the intention of the Cyprus government to provide additional financial assistance to this educational institute, as has been expressed these past few days, the House “considers as unacceptable any action that will affect negatively the Armenian schooling and cultivation of the Armenian heritage on Cypriot soil and rejects any plan to alter the historic site that includes both the main buildings as well as its surrounding areas, including the boarding house.”

It condemns every intention and effort to change the purpose of the inheritance of the Melkonian brothers and “calls upon the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) that is entrusted with the administration to cease any relevant decision.”

The House, with this resolution “calls on the Cyprus government to speed up the ratification of the declaration of the historic buildings as protected structures” and “asks that the government declare the whole property of the Melkonian Institute as one of unique historical and cultural importance, so as to prevent any effort to alter its purpose of use.”

The House plenary session unanimously called on the Cyprus government to resolve to support the Melkonian school as much as necessary “in order to secure its operation, even under the regulation of the Armenians of Cyprus and its representative bodies.”