The postal services of Cyprus and Armenia jointly launched a commemorative stamp on Thursday to mark the 100th anniversary of the genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks.
Symbolically, the pair of stamps with identical designs, depict the Melkonian school in Nicosia that originated as an orphanage in 1926 to shelter some 500 young survivors of the massacres.
The Cyprus Post stamp, with a value of 64 cents, shows the historic school buildings with cypress saplings planted by the first orphans, that have since blossomed and are as tall as nearby buildings along the main arterial Limassol Avenue. The Haypost stamp, with a value of 350 dram, shows a historical photograph of the first group of orphans in uniforms and lined up with the school band.
The visiting President of the Armenian Assembly was greeted by Communications and Works Minister Marios Demetriades, who said in his speech that it was “a great honour to welcome Galoust Sahakyan on behalf of the Cyprus government at the ceremony in remembrance of the 1.5 mln Armenians that perished in 1915. The international must not allow for such a crime to be committed again.”
He said that the joint stamp launch and the first day of issue marked the level of “solidarity of our two nations,” adding that the Armenians of Cyprus are an integral part of the island’s society.
Sahakyan said that “the atmosphere in Cyprus is just as warm as in Armenia. We are linked by genuine feelings of solidarity.”
He noted that the symbolic Melkonian orphanage and school resulted in the “rebirth of the Armenian nation, and has over the decades produced a great number of intellectuals, politicians and scientists,” adding that all these would never be possible without the support of the state of Cyprus and its friendly nation.
Host Yiannakis Omirou, President of the House of Representatives, criticised Turkey’s continued denial of the Armenian Genocide after which the island provided shelter to thousands of orphans and victims of the massacres, many of whom later emigrated to other parts of the world and created the Disapora.
Vartkes Mahdessian, Armenian MP in the Cypriot parliament, said that the photograph of the orphanage, taken by Haigaz Mangoian, one of the many Armenians that excelled in Cypriot society and the business world, said that the idea for the stamp was first conceived by the late Communications Minister Tassos Mitsopoulos and completed by the incumbent Minister Marios Demetriades.
Finally, Cyprus Post Director Andreas Gregoriou gave a historical overview of the Armenians in Cyprus, saying that the oldest records suggest they arrived on the island during the Byzantine era in 575, but their numbers dwindled, as did most Christians, during the island’s Ottoman rule from 1571 to 1878.
Gregoriou said that Cyprus Post has had two Armenian Cypriot Directors in the past and that a special stamp was issued in 1989, after the earthquake that struck Armenia, with the 3c levy used as financial aid to the survivors.
