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WESTERN ARMENIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

2005 . XII . 1

T h e M E I C r i s i s h a s g e n e r a t e d a C h a i n reaction for transparency of rights

- duties – responsibilities

(before and after the court hearings in Nicosia 20.21 December 2005

We members of the Pro Edvcatio international worldwide wish to bring, via this communiqué, to your attention, issues relating to the chain reaction generated by the Melkonian Educational Institute (MEI) crisis caused by the Central Board of Directors (CBD) of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), especially by its decision made public on 16 March 2004 for the closing of the unique International boarding school catering for the needs of the Western Armenian communities of the world - MEI, on its entire estate in Nicosia.

There has been pro and con analysis and much comments, sometime with passionate and rude language published worldwide relating to the aforementioned decision for the liquidation of the MEI . Those who agree with the proposed dismantlement of the MEI are still explaining that the AGBU is the most important Armenian institution and that its CBD represents the pinnacle of management excellency.
In fact, the 100 year old AGBU is indeed one of the most important and largest Armenian Institutions.
Nobody has cast a doubt on this fact; neither the “political” opponents of the AGBU, nor the worldwide groups opposing the liquidation of the MEI – as a matter of fact amongst these groups are many loyal member-donators of the AGBU.
In relation to the CBD, it is worth noting that before being nominated an excellent manager, it is necessary to be a legal and legitimate professionally acceptable manager. Just like any other manager, the CBD of the AGBU has to prove its pertinency in the choice of project objectives ; its efficiency in the effective implementation of its tasks must be accompanied by the most transparent audits and openness to scrutiny by its members.

These audits are not just the ones carried out by accountants. These procedures do not fall into disuse with the passing time. Their components remain as universal parameters and do not fall into abeyance.

Scrutiny not only by the juridical authorities but by any person asking at any time for clarification concerning the activities of a CBD.
The CBD members are personally, together with their own belongings and heirs, responsible for the activities under their management – regardless of the passing of time after an operation.

There is no possibility for this kind of responsibility lapsing with time. Those who are vested with an office are liable for a threefold onus. Namely: rights – duties - responsibilities. All of them to be practised in transparency.

Transparency in the accounts, in legal and financial matters with regard to the pertinent projects / activities in general. Only under these circumstances can the standard of management efficiency be defined as a success or a failure.

Moreover the CBD of the AGBU is dealing, and always has dealt, with funds due to public fund raising, donation and wills –egg Melkonian Will and Melkonian Brothers Fund. Therefore the CBD’s management has to be transparent and public.

In the case of the MEI, for example, the management is void of transparency. Nevertheless the CBD of the AGBU is not the only administrative body missing the transparency in its management. Could anybody claim transparency in the management of Calcutta Armenians matters in India, where the Authority of St Etchmiadzin is involved ?

The matter is not who is dealing with a subject of concern, but it is important how a matter is dealt with. Then the three fold onus of rights-duties-responsibilities becomes important. We claim that the AGBU does not belong to its CBD, whose members are accountable of their related activities; The Holy See of Saint Etchmiadzin does not belong to the Catholicos, but His Holiness is accountable of related activities; the same is valid for the Republic of Armenia, which does not belong to its President, but he is accountable of the country’s state of affairs. In Armenian worldwide Diaspora, which is not at all under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Armenia, there are many matters that lack transparency in management process; this lack of transparency has almost become a tradition. Moreover this situation has become the concern of the silent majority of Armenians worldwide Diaspora.

Thus the MEI crisis, fomented by the CBD of AGBU, came to release a chain reaction for transparency of rights, duties and responsibilities related to the persons dealing with public matters which are the concerns of Armenian communities within and outside of Armenia. While this chain reaction may have a slow pace at this stage, these events will not lapse by the passing of time with regard to legal codes. Transparency demands that operations should be undertaken progressively, as the judicial cases to save the MEI are undertaken. That is just a start.

In the meantime, the chain reaction for transparency should proceed without delay to the suspension of all kind of allowances directed to the bodies, such as AGBU, whose CBD is lacking management transparency – egg in case of the MEI. Without transparency in the management, the credibility and therefore legitimacy of a CBD is brought into question. A mystical veneration to persons or personalities may be undoubtedly amongst the rights of everybody. But this unquestioning trust cannot substitute for the lack of transparency of the institutions’ management. This transparency may not be replaced even by the virtue of being a CBD member of a good old institution, such as AGBU; or being the spiritual head of a church, such as His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians; The same applies for a President .

We henceforth will communicate progressively all information in relation with the aforementioned transparency through multimedia accessible to the greater public.

On behalf of Pro Edvcatio*

*The P R O E D V C A T I O is a Worldwide International F O R V M which deals with educational matters – taking into consideration social, economic and political dimensions of the cultural dynamics – together with geopolitical realities and related strategies for the development of human resources, respectful to legitimacy and legal conditions. The P R O E D V C A T I O ‘s G R T A S S E R E is a p a n e l – constituted by ad hoc Armenians of Diaspora and non-Armenians – which deals with Armenian educational issues.

For further information

Communiqué AAE daté du 15 Mars 2004

THE AAE calls upon the AGBU to reconsider its decision of closing the Melkonian School

Brussels, March 15^th, 2004 - It is with deep regret that the Assembly of Armenians of Europe learnt about the decision of the AGBU Administrative Board to close gradually the Melkonian School of Cyprus. The Boarding School of the Melkonian Educational Institution will be the first to be shut down.

It is undeniable truth that the Armenian School is the stronghold that preserves the Armenian Diaspora from being assimilated and keeps alive the Armenian spirit. Indeed, since its foundation the Melkonian Educational Institution has not been just a school, but the principle basis for the preservation of our national identity outside of Armenia. Many political and cultural figures have been educated here.

Taking into consideration that many young Armenians attend the Melkonian School, the closing of the latter will have grave consequences not only on the Armenian Community in Cyprus, but also in the countries of Middle East, Europe and countries of ex-Soviet Union Republic. The Melkonian School offers the best opportunity to the young Armenians to get acquainted with the Armenian history, culture and traditions and inspires them with the Armenian values. The fact that the Melkonian Educational Institution is the only Armenian secondary school in Europe (besides the school, recently established in France) emphasizes its importance.

Such decision puts under question the very principles and objectives of the AGBU Administrative Board which for many decades has been administrating the Melkonian School and their commitment to the preservation of Armenian values.

Therefore, the Assembly of Armenians of Europe calls upon the Administrative Board of the AGBU to reconsider their decision for the sake of the whole Armenian Diaspora. By applying such a decision, the AGBU will definitely fail to fulfill its historical mission, which is the preservation of the Armenian Identity and Armenian values.

Communiqué AAE daté du 1 Avril 2004

OPEN LETTER to ALL ARMENIANS

The Closure of Melkonian is a Pan-Armenian issue!!

HELP US TO SAVE THE MELKONIAN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE FROM BEING SOLD

Dear Armenians,

On March 16, 2004 the Central Board (CB) of AGBU announced its decision to close the Melkonian Educational Institute (MEI) by June 2005. We, the Melkoniantsi International (MI – the confederation of Melkonian Alumni Associations worldwide) are appealing to the entire Armenian Diaspora and every Armenian person to help us to prevent the realization of the AGBU plans.

Melkonian is no doubt the most important and famous Armenian school in the world. It has been refered to as the ‘jewel in the crown of the AGBU’. The Melkonian Educational Institute has neither failed nor has ceased to fulfil its mission: it has produced the cream of the nation and still continues to create strong, successful and wilful individuals, with truly fascinating personalities. Moreover, the graduates of MEI are, as a rule, quite politicised, proud and passionate about their history, culture, civilisation and identity – something that becomes less of a feature among contemporary Armenian Diasporic adolescents. Only a Boarding school can achieve this. MEI has produced the leaders of Armenian communities, intellectuals, teachers, academics, doctors, artists, public servants, professionals and an endless list of champions of Armenian Diaspora.

Closing that school down would be yet another major blow in the history of Armenian Diaspora’s social disintegration and cultural degradation. Succinctly put, the idea of closing MEI or discontinuing it as a boarding school is tantamount to aiding and abetting the ‘White genocide’ of assimilation.

The AGBU has repeatedly failed to produce any reasonable justification for their commitment to close the school. More: to this day the AGBU CB has refused to discuss any of the issues with interested parties, preferring to do it’s work behind closed doors. All of their answers have been ambiguous, elusive and evasive. There is no transparency and accountability; its dealings with the broader Armenian community at large have been arrogant and high handed. And AGBU has on many occasion, in our opinion, lied about its intentions, they have remained irresponsive to all the petitions and still turn a blind eye and treat MEI as their own private property.

The MEI was founded to educate Armenians from the Diaspora and to educate them within an Armenian environment. Melkonian school has provides teenagers from over 40 countries with an opportunity to live and grow up together in an entirely Armenian environment, and thus to explore and strengthen that which is common to them, irrespective of where they come from, their Armenianness. This can only be achieved in a long established boarding school environment one with its established traditions and culture going back over 78 years – that is, the MEI as it stands!

In 1925 Garabed Melkonian assigned all of his wealth (factories, lands in Egypt, stocks, etc) to AGBU Lausanne so as to form the “Melkonian Fund”. That wealth was valued at 425,092.5 Egyptian Pounds and the entry in AGBU records states that $4,647,020 was received in 1925. In today’s money that wealth nears $1,500,000,000. It was stated clearly by Garabed Melkonian that “Only the interest and income from this capital will be devoted to and used in the service of the above-described goals[the Melkonian mission goal being ‘to ensure the education of poor young Armenians’ see Clause VII of the Deed]”. However, what remains of the Melkonian Fund today is only worth $5,500,000. In 78 years the AGBU has not published any reports as to what happened to all that wealth and as to how exactly it has been spending the interests generated from that Fund. Furthermore, it has repeatedly refused to publish the accounts of the MEI itself.

Thus, it is clear that the AGBU was tasked to act only as a fund manager for the “Melkonian Fund” and to carry on Melkonian brothers’ legacy. The Deed also clearly states that AGBU has no right to sell MEI lands or to close the school down. Nevertheless, a large chunk of Melkonian lands was indeed sold in 1980s and the proceeds went toward construction of “Melkonian Commercial Centre” – an enterprise that was promised to make MEI self-sufficient, though the proceeds from it go to AGBU directly to this very day. Furthermore, the Deed is set in such a way that MEI cannot be closed down even if AGBU goes bankrupt – it also has very specific instructions to the banks regarding the procedures should the AGBU find itself unable to carry the mission of the MEI onwards. Nevertheless, the AGBU CB takes the liberty of deciding to close the MEI in June 2005.

That is what they (the AGBU CB) have “decided” and if nobody stops them they will put that decision into practice by June 2005.

We Call upon the Whole of Armenian Community for Help!!!

Given all of the above,

a) The MEI still fulfils its mission and is still the most important and unique school in the Armenian Diaspora. And the standards of the school are on the rise,

b) The MEI can be and is a financially totally self-sufficient institution not requiring any financial input from general AGBU funds, c) The proposed closure of the school goes against the Will of Garabed Melkonian (1925),

d) The Cypriot people and government wish to see the MEI staying in Cyprus and have already committed to doubling their already substantial annual grant to the school,

e) Cyprus being a member of the European Union from May 1^st 2004, will give the MEI a much enhanced advantages over any proposed alternatives.

Therefore, We, the MELKONIANTSI INTERNATIONAL (MI) – the confederation of Melkonian Alumni Associations worldwide, call upon the entire Armenian Nation and every Armenian Person to intervene to the best of their capacities (both financially and practically) to help us in our struggles against the Cultural Genocide that the AGBU CB is about to perpetrate.

We call upon every Armenian organization in the Diaspora, to oppose in whatever way they can, the realization of the AGBU’s decision

We call upon every Armenian newspaper, newsletter, Armenian website, every Radio-station and TV-channel to publicize and spread the information about the catastrophe that AGBU intends to undertake.

We call upon every influential Armenian businessman and politician to help our cause by intervening with the AGBU CB and/or by supporting our cause financially and practically.

We call upon every Armenian to support us in every way possible; by informing the Armenian communities in which they live of the facts surrounding this issue, of helping to raise awareness of the issues; and wherever possible, by fundraising on behalf of Melkoniantsi International or their local Melkonian Alumni chapters. No contribution, be it financial or moral, will be too small.

We have initiated a fundraising campaign to collect funds under the name of the *Melkoniantsi International Fund*. All donations will be dedicated to the efforts to keep the school open as it is. Every cent counts and we urge every Armenian who wants to stop this new White genocide against our people, to donate. You can Donate Online, by bank transfer or set up monthly/weekly payments. Details of the account and how to donate can easily be found on our website www.SaveMelkonian.org.

Whether your contribution is €5, £20, $10,000 or a letter/phone-call to a potential donor/organization; Whether you contribution is a TV show or a Radio broadcast, or a newspaper article or our banner on your website; Whether your contribution is a poster or leaflets placed in Armenian centers raising the issue; whether it is a fundraising activity for MI fund or a letter to AGBU CB, your contribution to our campaign will be much appreciated and will bring us a step closer to saving the all-Armenian school.

Please make a copy of this letter and forward it to others. We can and we will Save Melkonian. Please do not neglect this call: Awake and Rise!

Sincerely,

MELKONIANTSI INTERNATIONAL (MI)

www.SaveMelkonian.org
e-mail: admin@SaveMelkonian.org

This is now a Pan-Armenian issue!!!
WE WILL NOT GET TIRED