Joint Cyprus-Armenia stamp commemorating Genocide centennial to be launched next week
A joint Cyprus-Armenia stamp commemorating 100 years since the Armenian genocide is to be launched next week as part of a series of events to mark the anniversary, the postal services said on Tuesday, Cyprus Mail reports.
The representative of the Armenian Community in the House of Representatives, Vartkes Mahdessian has organised an event for next week presenting the stamp in both countries simultaneously.
It will depict the well-known but closed, Armenian educational institute, the Melkonian in Nicosia. The school originally functioned as an orphanage for children who survived the genocide and managed to make it to Cyprus.
The event in Cyprus will also be attended by Armenian Assembly Speaker Galust Sahakyan who is due to visit Cyprus.
The Armenian genocide is marked every year on April 24. The stamp is one of a series of actions being taken in Cyprus for the centenary.
Mahdessian told the Cyprus News Agency on Tuesday the goal was remembrance for the 1.5 million Armenians who died at the hands of Turkey during the 1915 genocide, and to push for recognition of the genocide by Turkey.
“At the same time it is an appeal to humanity to prevent similar tragedies in the future,” he said. Armenians everywhere, he added, were united and would struggle “until the final vindication”.
The flower ‘forget me not has been chosen as the symbol for the centenary with the five dark purple petals symbolising the five continents, where Armenians settled after the genocide, forming the Armenian diaspora.
The violet color symbolises the Armenian Church and the future. The five smaller petals symbolise hope and the present. The yellow core with twelve small parts are a linear representation of the twelve characteristics pillars of the monument to the Armenian genocide in Yerevan, Armenia, symbolising the victims, but also the sunlight and the continuity of life. The black core of the flower symbolises the horrors of genocide.
Events will include an art exhibitions, theatre, lectures, documentaries and cultural performances.
A book will also be printed in Greek and English that will include articles on the genocide that appeared in local newspapers between 1914 and 1923.
In addition, we issued book in Greek and English that includes articles on the Armenian Genocide, which appeared in the Greek Cypriot press between 1914 and 1923.
