By Apisoghom Agha

SaveMelkonian.com Cyprus correspondent

When parents were first informed that their children would be herded from the Melkonian to the American Academy in September 2005, the natural reaction was «what about the teaching of Armenian language, culture and history?»

It is now clear why the Academy cannot provide such a course and why Berg Setrakian, President of the American General Benevolent Union has given his blessing to this move: ever since the ‘border crossings’ were opened in Cyprus in 2003, the Academy is gaining rapid popularity among Turkish students and any Armenian course would be an embarrassment to this American organisation.

The plan is to de-Armenianise the present Melkonian student body, and by the time they graduate from the Academy, expect them to be fluent in English and Turkish, but not in Armenian.

Perhaps the photograph of Berj Pasha wearing a fez was a true prediction of the guy’s plans after all.

AGBU Representative Gordon Anderson has struck a secret deal (details of which will never be available) with the American Academy, promising the new school financial assistance and a ‘guaranteed’ 100 new enrolments, with many having to pay fees three times higher than at the Melkonian.

Alternately, Anderson and his lackeys have concocted a new plan to provide ‘evening/Saturday teaching’ of Armenian language, culture and history to all Armenian students in Cyprus attending any school.

This would be great model to implement at the Manoogian-Demirdjian school in California, that too, may be expected to adopt a Turkish course and abandon the Armenian courses altogether.

Inshallah!