‘Armenia’ casts anchor in Limassol after 2-year voyage

The yacht “Armenia” made its final port of call in Limassol on Thursday, concluding a two year voyage that started from Valencia and took the crew of seven to countries inhabited by Armenians.

The trip was initiated by its captain, author and human rights activist Zori Balayian, who used the Armenian tricolour as its main sail and carried the Armenian alphabet on 38 flags, one for each letter.
The ship is dedicated to Mesrob Mashdots, philosopher and founder of the Armenian alphabet in 405. However, the crew also paid tribute to the 13 victims of a deadly blast at a naval base a few kilometres from Limassol port, that destroyed the isalnd’s main power station.
This is Balayian’s second project. He had earlier sailed on board the Cilicia in 2005, which, too, had visited Cyprus.
On the port side to welcome the sailboat and its crew were President Demetris Christofias and his Armenian counterpart Serge Sarkissian, the Armenian Representative in the Cyprus Parliament, Vartkes Mahdessian, clergy and diplomats and members of the Armenian community of Cyprus.