ARMENIANS IN CYPRUS: FITTING IN BEATS FALLING OUT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NICOSIA 000115

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PREF CY TU
SUBJECT: ARMENIANS IN CYPRUS: FITTING IN BEATS FALLING OUT

REF: A. NICOSIA 111

B. NICOSIA 52


1. SUMMARY: Successful for four hundred years in
maintaining their unique culture, language and religion,
Cyprus's Armenians -- who enjoy "official religious group"
status under the Republic's 1960 convention -- nonetheless
seek closer ties to the majority Greek Cypriot population.
As such, Armenian Cypriots would willingly accept
conscription into the Greek Cypriot National Guard, claims
community leader Vartkes Mahdessian, "provided that certain
conditions are met." Mahdessian, a non-voting Member of
Parliament, also has urged his flock to master the Greek
language and become active in mainstream G/C politics in
hopes of bettering their lot. RoC census data reveal that
Armenian Cypriots in the government-controlled area number
approximately 3,000. The true figure is higher, Mahdessian
believes, owing to recent immigration from Armenia proper.
Natives and newcomers have not mixed well, threatening
community unity short-term. Political parties of the right
traditionally could count on the community's votes, but a
mixed-blood Armenian's success within DIKO and Communist
AKEL's lobbying of the immigrant population has brought the
group toward the center. Armenian Cypriots support the
concept of a bi-communal, bi-zonal re-unified Cyprus,
Mahdessian confirmed, but are leery of living amidst Turkish
Cypriots, a product of historic animosity between "mother
countries" Turkey and Armenia. END SUMMARY.

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Long a Tile in the Cypriot Mosaic
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2. Armenians began arriving on Cyprus in the early 1600s,
revealed Mahdessian in a January 25 meeting with Poloffs.
Attracted by commercial opportunities, itinerant tradesmen
established a presence in the island's then-largest cities,
Nicosia, Famagusta, and Larnaca. Historically urban unlike
the agrarian Maronites (Ref B),Armenians were dispersed
throughout the island prior to the 1974 conflict; all crossed
south in the population exchanges that followed. Official
RoC census data report their population totals 3,000.


3. The actual figure was higher, Mahdessian asserted,
although by what factor was anyone's guess. The last 15
years had witnessed a wave of immigrants, ethnic cousins
fleeing economic hardship in Armenia proper or other parts of
the former Soviet Union. Many had settled in rapidly
emptying Cypriot villages in the hinterlands, taking
agricultural jobs no Cypriot would touch. Some attended
church services in the towns and had integrated into the
native Armenian Cypriot community, but others, mostly
illegal, remained cloistered. His community was thus
divided, Mahdessian fretted.


4. Four hundred years living amidst the Greek- and Turkish
Cypriot communities had not robbed the Armenian Cypriots of
their identity, he continued. Most considered Armenian the
mother tongue, and, despite intermarriage, frequented
Armenian churches primarily. The RoC funded separate
elementary schools for Armenian children, a welcome gesture,
believed Mahdessian. Finally, they retained their historic
flair for commerce, as members of his community had excelled
in businesses both large and small in Cyprus.

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Inter-communal Relations Good, Not Perfect
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5. In general, Armenian and Greek Cypriots coexisted
peacefully and related well, Mahdessian thought.
Nonetheless, discrimination did occur. During the race for
the DIKO party presidency, for example, unknowns, perhaps
supporters of rival Nikos Kleanthous, planted rumors that
half-Armenian candidate Marios Karoyian was less sympathetic
to the national cause. Karoyian's clear victory was proof,
Mahdessian asserted, that most G/Cs thought favorably of
their Armenian compatriots. Others, however, criticized his
group for seeking government assistance not available to the
mainstream. "They cite the fact that in 1960 we chose to
align ourselves with the Greek Cypriot side. What were we
supposed to do?" he wondered, "Side with the Turks? With our
history?"


6. From his perch as community leader, Mahdessian sought not
only to preserve his community's separateness, but also to
strengthen its economic well-being. To succeed it was vital
that Armenians interact with Greek Cypriot society. So,
while many Armenians attended ethnic elementary schools and

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international high schools, he encouraged Armenian students
to study Greek on "the native track," not as a foreign
language. With pride he described how his efforts had won
changes to the curriculum for Armenian Cypriot students at
the English School, one of Nicosia's toniest.


7. Armenian Cypriot parents of means had turned to the
English School and others due to the 2004 decision to shutter
the Melkonian Armenian School. Once a source of pride that
helped forge a shared identity, Melkonian's closure had
shaken his community, Mahdessian lamented. He thought poor
management, not weak demand, had forced the shut-down. As
private schools were big business in Cyprus, with parents
willing to spend upwards of $10,000 per year, Melkonian might
have survived, Mahdessian argued, had it offered a
"two-track" curriculum for Armenian and non-Armenian
students. He did not hide his hopes that someday the school
might re-open (Note: Media February 4 reported that Cyprus's
Supreme Court had dealt a blow to Mahdessian's hopes by
overturning an earlier RoC decision to preserve the property
on historic grounds, thus paving the way for the site's
eventual redevelopment. End Note.)

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Conscription Opt-Out Soon to End
--------------


8. In recent years, the Greek Cypriot National Guard has
faced difficulty filling its conscript billets. One element
of the GCNG plan to meet staffing gaps lay in ending the
exemption from compulsory military service that Cyprus's
recognized religious groups enjoy (Ref A). Armenian Cypriots
benefited greatly from the security the state provided,
Mahdessian admitted, and their youth would serve if called.
"Military service might even improve our standing in the
community. We're not against it, per se," he reasoned. But
the discrimination Armenian Cypriots had endured in 1992-94
-- the only time community members had been drafted -- showed
that an altered GCNG conscription regime was imperative.
Mahdessian was drafting a letter to RoC President Tassos
Papadopoulos that highlighted his community's concerns and
offered suggestions on how Armenian Cypriots might better
serve in the National Guard.


9. Topping his list was the recommendation that Armenians
first enter service in 2008, not 2007, allowing those youth
who already had finalized plans for work or university to
continue. Mahdessian hoped their conscripts might attend
basic training as a group, reducing the odds of being singled
out for mistreatment on account of ethnicity.
Armenian-descent draftees ought serve in big cities to allow
them to practice their religion, since the community had no
facilities in rural, remote areas. Finally, Mahdessian
thought Armenian Cypriot officer candidates would lose ground
because due to weakness in written Greek; he would urge the
government to weigh language/communication test scores with
this in mind. He hoped Papadopoulos would respond favorably
to the missive, but seemed resigned to the opposite outcome.

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Recent Arrivals Change Community's Dynamic
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10. Despite their contributions to the Republic's economy,
filling menial jobs unacceptable to Cypriots, recent arrivals
from Armenia proper rarely slept soundly, Mahdessian
contended. "(Minister of Interior Neoklis) Sylikiotis is
after them all," he continued, "as if they were Pontians, Sri
Lankans or Filipinos." Acknowledging that most
recently-arrived Armenians were illegal, like members of the
aforementioned groups, Mahdessian nonetheless argued their
shared bloodlines with an official religious minority group
made their cases special. "We're going to work on this with
the Ministry," he pledged.


11. The presence of the Armenian migrants was changing
politics within his community, Mahdessian contended.
Armenian Cypriots traditionally had tilted right, supporting
Democratic Rally (DISY) candidates in presidential and
parliamentary elections; Communist AKEL, Cyprus's largest
party, enjoyed little support. AKEL was making inroads,
however, deploying its numerous Russian speakers to recruit
the newcomers, many of whom grew up in the FSU. Were they to
gain legal status and eventually naturalize, they could
greatly alter voting patterns, Mahdessian believe.


12. Another factor bringing Armenian Cypriots to the
political center was Marios Karoyian's political success, a
source of pride within the community. DIKO was President

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Papadopoulos's party, he noted, and no Armenian Cypriot
before had reached such political heights. Mahdessian hoped
younger community members would follow Karoyian's path and
seek leadership positions in mainstream Greek Cypriot
parties. He estimated the current Armenian Cypriot voter
breakdown at 40 percent DISY, 40 percent DIKO, 10 percent
AKEL, and 10 percent split between Cyprus's smaller parties.


13. Despite voting "no" on the 2004 Annan Plan referendum --
at a rate below the Greek Cypriots' 67 percent -- the
community generally favored a bi-zonal, bi-communal model for
a re-unified Cyprus, Mahdessian reported. Armenian Cypriots
seemed in no hurry to live side by side with T/Cs, however.
"Many Armenians went north after the checkpoints opened in
2003, but the novelty soon wore off," he claimed. Perhaps
due to historic animosity between the mother countries, his
constituents felt uncomfortable in the Turkish
Cypriot-controlled areas and now rarely visited.

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Looking Forward
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14. COMMENT: While half the size of the Maronite community
(Ref B),the Armenian minority has better prospects for
survival in Cyprus. Helping their cause is the absence of
enclaved north of the Buffer Zone. With four villages deep
in the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" and thus
vulnerable to T/C or Turkish aggression, Maronites sometimes
stake wishy-washy positions anathema to the Greek Cypriot
majority; Armenians hold no such divisions of loyalty.
Immigration from Armenia has buoyed their numbers and
provided needed new blood, friction with the old guard
notwithstanding. Marios Karoyian's success has brought
visibility to the community and pride to its members. The
"enemy of my enemy" factor also contributes -- Greek Cypriots
commiserate and empathize with Armenians, as both feel
victimized by Ankara. Finally, community leaders here, like
their counterparts in Lebanon and Syria, have adopted a
pragmatic approach to surviving alongside the majority group,
evidenced lately by Mahdessian's decision on military
service. END COMMENT.
SCHLICHER