House opposes Melkonian shut down

THE PLENUM yesterday unanimously opposed the Armenian General Benevolent Union’s (AGBU) decision to shut down the Melkonian Educational Institute (MEI) and urged the government to declare the school a historical site.

The deputies said the 78-year-old Armenian school was as much part of Cyprus’ cultural and historical heritage as the Armenians’. They added it was their duty to “undertake the necessary initiative to prevent the fait accompli its New York handlers are trying to create”.

The vote comes after the AGBU recently announced its plans to close down the school in June next year, claiming it no longer fulfilled the duties it had been set up to carry out.

The Armenian community in Cyprus has claimed financial interests are behind the school’s closure as preliminary estimates suggest the land is worth £40 million.

The House of Representatives said the school was an important educational and cultural institution that helped education and cultivate young Armenians, as well as reinforcing their identity. The deputies added that thought should have been given and action taken on how to support the school rather than shut it down.

The plenum unanimously condemned the AGBU decision and called on the government to declare the school building and its surroundings an environment of historical and cultural importance, thus thwarting any plans for its development.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.