|
| |
| REGULAR PUBLICATIONS OF GIBRAHAYER E-MAGAZINE
WILL RESUME AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER 2009 |
| |
| TURKEY AND ARMENIA INCH CLOSER - Omer Tashpinar |
 Last week's joint declaration that Turkey and Armenia had initialled two protocols -- one for the establishment of diplomatic relations, the other for the development of bilateral relations (opening of the border) -- came as a welcome surprise to many analysts, including myself, who had started to lose faith in the normalisation process.
Just as I was getting ready to uncork a nice Caucasian champagne to celebrate, I realised that the two sides have also declared that the protocols will have to go through parliamentary ratifications. - to read the rest of the article click here |
EDITORIAL
Anger and Wrath - by Jean Ipdjian |
| I decided to write this article in English and thus publish it in the English language "Gibrahayer" just to give the readers a taste of what they have to get used to in the future as a result of the closure of the Melkonian Ed. Institute and all the other such closures of Armenian  schools. A taste of reading about Armenian issues in English, since more and more of our young people are forced to attend foreign secondary schools and thus lose their ability of being literate in the Armenian language.
In the July issue of the monthly newspaper ‘ARTSAKANK’ of Nicosia, Cyprus, I read an article by a Mr. Yenovk Balikian from Los Angeles, USA. The article, headlined ‘In The Name of Truth’ was an attempt by the writer to justify or explain the closure of the Melkonian Educational Institute. It is not my intention to answer to the gentleman point by point, since in the same newspaper one can find this done by the Melkonian Alumni & Friends organisation which was set up to coordinate the fight to prevent the permanent closure of the Institute and the sale of its assets by the AGBU Central Committee. My intention is to convey my thoughts regarding the closure of MEI and the replanting of ‘one of the (bdghadou) "fruit-bearing" trees of the Armenians which unfortunately in the past years has stopped giving fruits’, as Mr. Balikian calls the institute and comments, in Armenia.
I really cannot understand the projected thinking and logic behind the decision to close the MEI. On the one hand we are told that the Melkonian was ‘a (hnots) "smelting-stove" of Armenian education, a cradle of the Armenian spirit and a surely address for the Armenian nation’ – to which by the way I totally agree- and on the other hand we are told that the school no longer served its purpose. Mr. Balikian goes further and quotes the declaration of the school Directress at the time regarding the pupils from Eastern Europe saying ‘We get pupils who do not recognise even one letter of Armenian; they know nothing about being Armenian. They neither speak Armenian, nor have been to the Armenian Church. They don’t even know what it means to be Armenian. They leave the Melkonian having learnt to read, write and speak Armenian’. Presumably, by that time those pupils would have learnt a bit of our history and become a little more Armenian than they were initially.
These contradicting statements which are repeated in every pro-closure argumentation, makes one wonder, as the Armenian saying goes, where is the snake’s head buried?
And however hard I ponder, however hard I looked at the arguments presented to us, however much I try to be understanding and positive about the whole debacle, I cannot help return to my initial instincts and conviction that all the above are half truths and that the real reason behind their final decision was political. The venerable members of the Central Committee at some point about the time coinciding with the start of Perestroika and the normalisation and thawing of relations between the superpowers and the resulting introduction of reforms in the Soviet Union calculated that their dollars could buy a whole lot of allegiance in Armenia. Therefore, it made sense to gradually downgrade their operations in the Diaspora and concentrate their efforts in Armenia. After all their policy of indoctrinating the pupils in their schools into loyal AGBU members and hopefully by extension into cadres for the Ramgavar party had proved to be flawed and the results were hopelessly disappointing. Gone were the days when one could brainwash educated and thinking young men and women into whatever one desired!
And since the Melkonian Institute through their own mistakes and wrong decisions was proving to be an Achilles’ heal, it was a prime candidate for closure. For years, especially since the arrival of the late directress Mrs. Bedikian and her cronies, the school had become a hub of Ramgavar indoctrination, thus alienating it from a large portion of the Diaspora Armenians. Cyprus and of course Melkonian is ideally situated in the Europe. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the ensuing chaos there had resulted in the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Armenians to Europe and the ex Soviet satellite states. The Board here also failed dismally to attract a larger portion of the Armenians there to send their children to the Melkonian, specifically to give them an Armenian education. The efforts towards this goal were haphazard in the best case and non existent in the worse. I remember years ago, in Kuwait, in order to attract pupils from that country, my father’s shop was used as a place for entrance examinations and so many corners cut in order to make it possible for some of the candidates to be accepted. The Gulf still should still have presented possibilities, if only some water was mixed into the Institutes’ wine!
In the mid-eighties a trial run for the sale of the school was organised. Parts of the estate were sold. However such great was the uproar that arose that the School Board and Central Committee of the AGBU were caught with their pants down and the income from the sale was used to build the new sleeping quarters, the Melkonian office blocks and 3-4 buildings to house the teachers. But they had learned their lessons well and they started a systematic but covert operation of undermining the school.
But it is not the Board and Central Committee which are wholly to blame for the sale of the Melkonian. A lot of the blame should also be shared by the ordinary members of the AGBU, the different Alumni of the school and by the Ramgavar party leaders to whom the AGBU owes unofficial allegiance. For years and years they fought with hands and teeth with any attempt of positive criticism of the school, they never dared question the decisions of the Central Committee as long as the school was there and was providing them a source of propaganda and justifiable pride.
Their anger and wrath is too little, too late.
Finally, all of the above are meaningless and pitiful nonsense.
The real and very sad fact is that for one reason or the other, an organisation such as the AGBU, whose existence is justified and quantified by its work in supporting and maintaining Armenian cultural and educational institutions, has found the decision the close an institution of the magnitude of the Melkonian Educational Institute justifiable.
This is a reason to feel anger and wrath!
It is inconceivable for me to believe that if the powers to be had genuinely and sincerely wanted to find ways of keeping the school open and functional, they could not have found the pupils, the resources and the meaningfulness of keeping the school open.
It is inconceivable for me to believe that the closure of the MEI was inevitable.
It is inconceivable for me to believe that the overall good for the nation is best exercised by closing the MEI and in its place ‘in order to preserve the memory of the Melkonian brothers for eternity’, as Mr. Balikian writes, the building of an educational and cultural complex in Armenia. Jean Ipdjian - London - 2009 |
| NANOR'S GLASS ART JEWELLERY SHOW AT VARTAN'S GALLERY |
|  Nanor's new glass art jewellery collection will be on display at Vartan Gallery in Nicosia starting on
* Friday September 11th at 7pm
* Saturday/Sunday September 12 and 13 from 10am-1pm and 4pm-8pm, and the following days permanently from 10am-1pm and 4pm-8pm.
Her new collection will feature her new fused glass jewellery as well as unique flamework, all one of a kind pieces.
Join us for some wine and cheese on September 11 at 7pm at Vartan Gallery. Feel free to bring a friend along and spread the news!
For more information, visit www.nanorart.com, Vartan Gallery, 27 C & D Athalassa Ave., 2012 Strovolos, Nicosia +357-99623068
|
| THE GOMIDAS QUARTET IN CYPRUS
SATURDAY 31 OCTOBER 7:30 PM
PALLAS THEATRE - NICOSIA |
 |
| organised by the Office of the Armenian Representative, on the
occasion of the 140th anniversary of the birth of Gomidas Vartabed |
| |
| to view Gomidas Quartet on youtube click here |
| |
| WE WELCOME VISITOR NUMBER 111,311
TO OUR WEBSITE WWW.GIBRAHAYER.COM |
| |
| ARMENIAN LANGUAGE COURSES AT THE EDUCATION CENTRES OF THE CYPRUS MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND CULTURE |
| Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra for Gibrahayer e-magazine - We would like to inform you about the beginning of Armenian courses at the Education Centres of the Ministry of Education and Culture as of this school year. The courses will cover the learning of the basic grammatical and syntactical structures of the Armenian language and of a basic vocabulary, aiming at acquiring the ability for oral and written communication in Armenian.
For those who wish to attend the courses the registrations will take place from Monday 7 September till Friday, 25 September 2009. The ones interested must fill in an application form and deliver it during the working morning hours to any Elementary School or send it by post to the address “Education Centres of Nicosia, Ministry of Education and Culture, corner of Kimon and Thucydides str., 1434 Acropolis, Nicosia” or send it via fax to number 22-800802. The cost is 51 euros per month and the lessons will commence on the last week of October every Monday at Ayios Demetrios Elementary School in Acropolis, between 18:30-20:00.
Armenian is a minority language of the Republic of Cyprus and the mother tongue of our Armenian-Cypriot compatriots. |
| MEET OUR SPONSORS AND MAKE THIS MOBILE PHONE YOURS
click here |
| 
or even here ... now it is yours !
|
| |
| |
|  WE THOUGHT VERY
HARD TO FIND
A BETTER CAUSE
TO CONTRIBUTE TO
WE SIMPLY COULDN'T
GIBRAHAYER
E-MAGAZINE
stay connected
to everything
that really matters...
and then simply... do your bit !
|
| International subscribers can make contributions to: Marfin Popular Bank Public Company Ltd, Bank Address: Strovolos Industrial Area sub-Branch Stavrou Avenue 96-I, 2034 Nicosia - Cyprus, A/C Name: Aynedjian Simon, Account No: 101 1100 3421 Swift Code: LIKI CY 2N, IBAN: CY13 0030 0101 0000 0101 1100 3421 |
| |
| GIBRAHAYER IS ON FACEBOOK - click the image below and join |
 |
| |
| YOU CAN ASSIST GIBRAHAYER E-MAGAZINE
EXPAND ITS ONLINE ACTIVITIES BY CALLING
CALL 909-35037 |
| |
| GIBRAHAYER CALENDAR |
- Saturday 12 September at 05:00 pm - Spiritual Message from the Armenian program of CYBC. Title:"Freedom-To do what?"(Azadoutioun:Inch enelou Hamar?) Speaker: Hrayr Jebejian.
- Sunday 13 September at 8:00 pm - The Hamazkayin Cultural & Educational Association's "Sipan" Dance Ensemble is taking part in the 4th Mediterranean Folk Dance Festival in Larnaca that will take place on on Larnaca seafront (Finikoudes). The Armenian Cypriot Dance Ensemble will also participate in the Parade on Saturday 12 September at 7:00 pm on Athinon Avenue in Larnaca.
- Friday 18 September 8.30pm - BEETHOVEN'S GREAT PIANO SONATAS - A piano recital with Vahan Mardirossian - The Shoe Factory 304 Ermou Street, Nicosia (Limited Sitting so pre-booking essential).
The Pharos Arts Foundation continues its Concert and Recital Series with a recital by the exceptional pianist/conductor Vahan Mardirossian, scheduled to coincide with the release of Mardirossian's new CD with Beethoven's piano sonatas. The programme will comprise Beethoven's Moonlight, Pathétique, Pastorale and Tempest sonatas. - Saturday, September 26, 2009, at 05:00pm - Armenian Evangelical church service, in The Greek Evangelical church, 20 Gladstonos street, Nicosia. Speaker: Hrayr Jebejian.
- Wednesday, October 28, 2009, at 08:00 pm - Public Lecture organised by the Armenian Evangelical church. Title: HAY ASDVADSASHOUNCIN SHAHEGANOUTIOUNE- BADMAGAN AGNARG YEV NERGA OREROU HRAMAYAGANERE. Speaker: Dr. Ari Topouzkhanian (Laser Physicist- French National Center for Scientific Research - Lyon, France). The lecture will take place in the Armenian Prelacy’s Utujian Hall, Nicosia
- Friday, October 30, 2009, at 08:30 pm - Public lecture organised by the Armenian Evangelical church. Title: HAVADK YEV KIDOUTIOUN - 21 RORT TAROU HAY YERIDASARTIN PENDERDOUKE. Speaker: Dr. Ari Topuzkhanian (Laser Physicist- French National Center for Scientific Research- Lyon, France). The lecture will take place in the Armenian Prelacy’s Utujian Hall and is dedicated for the “2009- Year of Youth”.
- Saturday 31 October at 7.30 pm at Pallas Theatre - Concert by Gomidas Quartet of Armenia, organised by the Office of the Armenian Representative, on the occasion of the 140th anniversary of the birth of Gomidas Vartabed.
- Saturday, October 31, 2009, at 04:30 pm Armenian Evangelical church service in the Greek Evangelical Church, 20 Gladstonos street, Nicosia. Speaker: Dr. Ari Topouzkhanian (Laser Physicist- French National Center for Scientific Research- Lyon, France). The service will be dedicated for “TARKMANCHATZ”.
|
| Computer problems ? - DIAL 99437073. The PC Doctor is back! |
|  Technical support, repairs & upgrades, hardware problems, software installations, windows related errors, virus and spyware removal, software installation & troubleshooting, wired and wireless networking, data recovery, formatting, for assistance for making your life in front of your computer more enjoyable.
Our Computer Doctor speaks fluent Armenian and also makes house calls!
Limited stock on computer hardware also available. PCs, laptops & gadgets.
|
 Back to School Offers - only 290 euros
LENOVO Laptop only 290 euros - Four (4) pieces left in stick.
IdeaPad S10-1E 10.1" (1024х600), Atom™ N270 1.6GHz/533MHz, 945GSE Express, RAM 1024MB DDRII, HDD 160GB, GMA 950, /Wi-Fi/g, WinXP Home Edition - Stock running out quickly.
Price of 290 euros includes VAT, also including home delivery.
Contact us on simon@cytanet.com.cy |
| |
No comments:
Post a Comment