YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–Due to an agreement reached during Karabakh President Arkady Ghoukassian’s 1997 visit to Greece–Karabakh kids again spent their summer holiday in Greece.
A group of 20 school children–among whom were orphans–children of perished freedom fighters and children from large families–visited the island of Ano Cyros–July 9-23. The visit took place with the assistance of Karabakh’s Foreign Minister Naira Melkumian in cooperation with the Armenian National Committee of Greece.
A Foreign Ministry official–Svetlana Jangirian–who headed the group–said that during the two weeks children visited several cities–including Athens–Ermopolis–Galicis where they learned about the history and culture of ancient Hellas.
Jangirian especially praised the warm attitude of the Greek and Armenian islanders. Before leaving Greece–the kids from Karabakh staged a concert in honor of their new friends presenting the art of the Armenian people–in particular–the Karabakh folklore. The local Armenian newspaper "Azat Or" covered the visit of Karabakh children to Greece.
Jangirian reported that during the farewell ceremony the mayor of Ano Cyros–Mr. Papitsis–invited the young Karabakh resident to visit Greece next year. Papitsis expressed hope that similar visits of friendship will become a tradition to allow the younger generation to be better educated about the culture and history of the two ancient nations.
A preliminary agreement was reached regarding a similar program for kids from Armenia.