It is extremely painful for me to see the Melkonian Educational Institute of Cyprus closed down. This is what Chair of the Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Sport and Youth Affairs of the National Assembly of Armenia Mkhitar Hayrapetyan said. Hayrapetyan is in Cyprus as part of the delegation led by Speaker of the National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan.

He particularly stated the following: “I have been in Cyprus as part of the delegation led by Speaker of the National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan since yesterday.

The interesting coincidence is that last year this time I was in Nicosia again, but as Minister of Diaspora, and I met with President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades and visited the Melkonian Educational Institute, which has been closed down for more than a decade.

It is extremely painful for me to see that the school that became a home for Armenian orphans of the Genocide and for several generations is closed down. Words can’t describe my emotions.

Today, on July 5, Armenia celebrates not only Constitution Day, but also State Emblems Day.

I would not be wrong, if I said that the Melkonian Educational Institute is a symbol of all Armenians, of their persistence to be reborn, struggle and succeed after the Genocide, and it is on this symbolic day that Ararat Mirzoyan and I will be visiting the once active, but now silent and melancholic corner of Cyprus.

Every time I visit Cyprus, I can’t wait to see Melkonian Educational Institute.”