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REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS TAKES ON AGBU IN MELKONIAN CASE
AZG Armenian Daily
26/05/2007
Lawyers: "Yerevan is siding with AGBU"
Nicosia - Cyprus Attorney General Petros Clerides, as the legal
representative of the Republic of Cyprus, is expected to take court
action against the AGBU within the next two or three weeks in an
effort to resume the campaign to save the Melkonian school in Nicosia
and aim for its earliest operation.
Some 50 members of the Armenian community, Representative Vartkes
Mahdessian and Melkonian alumni who gathered in Nicosia on Monday
night heard lawyers Costas Velaris and Christina Sarris say that the
Attorney General, who has received several hundred letters, e-mails
and pressure, will take action on behalf of the Armenian community
of Cyprus.
Attorney General Clerides, however, will re-appoint the trio of
Velaris, Sarris and former Attorney General Alecos Markides to
undertake the case in his name as they have nearly two years' worth
of preparatory work and documentation. The three lawyers had in
the past-represented Patriarch Mutafyan in the Cyprus cases against
the AGBU.
On the issue of payment it was made clear that the Attorney General
has appointed the three lawyers, but he will not pay for legal costs,
to which Costas Velaris seemed unconcerned, saying "there is no need
to deal with that issue right now". Velaris appealed to the members
of the community or anybody else in the world to come forward with
information or documentation that could help the case.
He added that "this time" there would be transparency in the
communication of information and any progress report, with Christina
Sarris saying any report and information would be posted on any
website of the community's choice.
Responding to calls from the audience to adopt a "proper" channel of
communication through the Armenian MP's office and then to use the
community's hierarchy of political and other organisations, Velaris
said "anyone wishing to contact us may do so", but added that he and
his co-counsels did not want to get involved in the local politics
of the small community, where he assumed that "there is no one who
wants to see the destruction of the Melkonian."
At the same time both Velaris and Sarris contradicted themselves by
saying in separate statements that "the action would be in the name
of the Armenian community of Cyprus" while in other statements they
said that "the beneficiaries, according to the spirit of the Melkonian
Trust, are ALL the Armenians around the world."
Velaris was also caustic about some of the obstacles that the case
has faced, adding that no one or any organization had contacted the
three lawyers with a compromise deal or offer and neither were there
any threats or suggestions.
"Unfortunately the government of Armenia has sided with the AGBU
in this matter," he said, while he also expressed his dismay at the
"stupid" decision of some judges in Cyprus courts, such as the case
of the overturning of the first preservation order on the Melkonian
estate.
The authority of Interior Minister Neoklis Sylikiotis has since
reinstated the preservation order. As regards the future structure
of the Melkonian, Christina Sarris said that as the Attorney General
has undertaken the case, he also has the supreme authority to appoint
the trustees of the school and its estate in the future.
Sarris also mentioned that "as far as I know the Melkonian will be used
by the nearby Aghlandjia state school" that had structural problem
and two construction workers were killed, and that the move would be
"from the new school year, in September."
Some other suggestions and rumours were raised during the meeting,
but Gibrahayer Newsletter will refrain from publishing them as they
were not supported with any concrete evidence.
AZG Armenian Daily
26/05/2007
Lawyers: "Yerevan is siding with AGBU"
Nicosia - Cyprus Attorney General Petros Clerides, as the legal
representative of the Republic of Cyprus, is expected to take court
action against the AGBU within the next two or three weeks in an
effort to resume the campaign to save the Melkonian school in Nicosia
and aim for its earliest operation.
Some 50 members of the Armenian community, Representative Vartkes
Mahdessian and Melkonian alumni who gathered in Nicosia on Monday
night heard lawyers Costas Velaris and Christina Sarris say that the
Attorney General, who has received several hundred letters, e-mails
and pressure, will take action on behalf of the Armenian community
of Cyprus.
Attorney General Clerides, however, will re-appoint the trio of
Velaris, Sarris and former Attorney General Alecos Markides to
undertake the case in his name as they have nearly two years' worth
of preparatory work and documentation. The three lawyers had in
the past-represented Patriarch Mutafyan in the Cyprus cases against
the AGBU.
On the issue of payment it was made clear that the Attorney General
has appointed the three lawyers, but he will not pay for legal costs,
to which Costas Velaris seemed unconcerned, saying "there is no need
to deal with that issue right now". Velaris appealed to the members
of the community or anybody else in the world to come forward with
information or documentation that could help the case.
He added that "this time" there would be transparency in the
communication of information and any progress report, with Christina
Sarris saying any report and information would be posted on any
website of the community's choice.
Responding to calls from the audience to adopt a "proper" channel of
communication through the Armenian MP's office and then to use the
community's hierarchy of political and other organisations, Velaris
said "anyone wishing to contact us may do so", but added that he and
his co-counsels did not want to get involved in the local politics
of the small community, where he assumed that "there is no one who
wants to see the destruction of the Melkonian."
At the same time both Velaris and Sarris contradicted themselves by
saying in separate statements that "the action would be in the name
of the Armenian community of Cyprus" while in other statements they
said that "the beneficiaries, according to the spirit of the Melkonian
Trust, are ALL the Armenians around the world."
Velaris was also caustic about some of the obstacles that the case
has faced, adding that no one or any organization had contacted the
three lawyers with a compromise deal or offer and neither were there
any threats or suggestions.
"Unfortunately the government of Armenia has sided with the AGBU
in this matter," he said, while he also expressed his dismay at the
"stupid" decision of some judges in Cyprus courts, such as the case
of the overturning of the first preservation order on the Melkonian
estate.
The authority of Interior Minister Neoklis Sylikiotis has since
reinstated the preservation order. As regards the future structure
of the Melkonian, Christina Sarris said that as the Attorney General
has undertaken the case, he also has the supreme authority to appoint
the trustees of the school and its estate in the future.
Sarris also mentioned that "as far as I know the Melkonian will be used
by the nearby Aghlandjia state school" that had structural problem
and two construction workers were killed, and that the move would be
"from the new school year, in September."
Some other suggestions and rumours were raised during the meeting,
but Gibrahayer Newsletter will refrain from publishing them as they
were not supported with any concrete evidence.