The prospect of the new school year being the last one for the historic Melkonian school of the Armenians is imminent. Everybody despises this outcome but the intention of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) charity foundation is to close the school and sell the land.

The registrations for new students have not taken place this year by decision of the Executive Board of the foundation and the decision is to close the school at the end of the new school year. The issue has caused the extensive reaction of the Armenian community, which on the initiative of the school’s Alumni Association is resorting to actions to prevent this closure.

As the vice president of the Alumni Association, Masis der Parthogh, told “Phileleftheros”, registrations did not take place this year by decision of the foundation that manages the school. Also, he said, the local representatives of the AGBU are warning parents that the school will close and they deserve to find something better for their children.

As regards the Melkonian, the Environmentalists’ Movement had raised the issue in November 2003 suggesting that the development zoning levels for the whole estate be reduced to prevent anyone from selling it. On April 2, by decision of the Minister of Interior, two thirds of the land (the twin buildings, the founders’ villa, the boarding house and the forest) were declared as a protected area. However, according to Mr. der Parthogh, the company that administers it has objected to the proposal to declare the land as protected.

“I don’t think this decision can change, because the matter has to go to the Council of Ministers which I consider is impossible to change the declaration,” Masis der Parthogh said.

Also, on March 26, the House plenary session called on the government to intervene so as not only to declare the buildings as protected but also for it to continue to operate as a school and for the AGBU board that is based in New York to come into contact and cooperate with the Armenian community of Cyprus and to discuss the future of the school.

Since then, Mr. der Parthogh said, nothing has happened and the AGBU representative in Cyprus ignores the House decision and continues to implement the decisions of the foundation’s board without coming into contact with anyone.

“We, as the Association, sent a letter to the President of the House, as well as to all the deputies of the House Education Committee and the Ministers calling for their immediate intervention, because these people have not only put aside any decision of the House, but they ignore it as well. We say, through our Representative in the House, that we are in a position to undertake the complete management of the school, if the State, the Parliament or any other body can start a dialogue for us to take control of the school’s administration,” Masis der Parthogh said.

Referring to the Association’s position and the actions they are taking to prevent the school’s closure, he said: “That ground, we do not accept that it belongs to them, as they claim. Our lawyers here have been working for months trying to prove the opposite, that they simply had the administration of the school and not its ownership. The Melkonian is a private school that belongs to a trust, the administration of which is in the hands of the foundation.

“From the 1920s to the early 1930s efforts were made to transfer the ownership to the Armenian Patriarchate in Constantinople. This is what we are trying to discover with our lawyers with searches in many countries. Furthermore, what we are saying is that as this is a trust they cannot sell it, but they can only administer it and nothing else, so it has to revert to the Armenian community. We are trying to involve all the bodies, political parties, etc., in order for a political decision to be taken to ensure the continued operation of the Melkonian school.”

Ministry of Education’s hands are tied

The Melkonian school is a private school for secondary education with an offer for free education by agreement of the Republic of Cyprus. It was established in 1926 and initially operated as an orphanage, providing shelter and board and later education to orphan Armenians who survived the genocide by the Turks. Gradually, the Melkonian school was transformed to a large educational institute for the Armenian diaspora with an international reputation and for the national culture for the Armenian community of the diaspora. The school’s continuation is considered as vital for the Armenian community in Cyprus.

The Ministry of Education, through the Director of Secondary Education, Andreas Skoteinos, assures that it is doing everything possible within its ability for the school to continue to operate.

“Some legal problems prevent the Ministry from taking further action as the school is private and the law does not allow for any further involvement in the matter,” he said. However, he expressed the hope that “we will not be led to the prospect of the school closing.”

© "O Phileleftheros Ltd."