PLOVDIV, Bulgaria - All anniversaries are special, but the 160th birthday of the Victoria and Krikor Tutunjian school in Plovdiv this year had a different meaning.
It marked not only the re-birth of an institution, but also a significant turning point in the life of the Armenian community.
Hundreds of parents, teachers and friends gathered in one of Plovdiv's main halls for a community extravaganza packed with speeches, and a rich cultural program which not only included the children, but their proud parents as well.
At one point, the stage was packed with young and old talent performing Armenian songs, playing Armenian music and indulging in a celebration seldom seen in the history of this community.
The reason for the festive mood was simple. For 14 years, the nearly 6,000-strong Armenian community was locked out of its school - the casualty of a communist policy primarily targeted against Bulgaria's nearly one million ethnic Turkish population.
When minority schools were closed in 1976, it was done in the name of Bulgarian nationalism, but the main objective was to curtail Turkish influence in a country of 8.5 million where more than 10 percent of the population are ethnic Turks.
Bulgarian-born Turks, offshoots of the Ottoman Turks who ruled Bulgaria for several centuries until 1878, were forced to change their names and "integrate" into the mainstream. Mehmets became Ivans.
But the so-called "Bulgarization" campaign did not effect the Armenians, except in the field of education.
"The policy decision to close the Turkish schools meant closing all other ethnic schools as well, including the Armenian - an unfortunate victim of circumstances," Bulgarian Presidential adviser on ethnic and religious issues Mihail Ivanov said during a recent meeting with this reporter in Sofia.
Turks are the largest ethnic group in Bulgaria. They are followed by over 300,000 Gypsies and much smaller numbers of Russians, Armenians, Jews, Tatars and Greeks.
Thanks to the collapse of communism, minority and ethnic rights are once again guaranteed and the new policy is already bearing its fruits.
Ethnic education is not only available to everyone, but at government expense too.
The Armenian school was re-opened in 1990 with a student body of 276. In the 1993-94 academic year, that number had already climbed to 385, including 28 young boys and girls from Armenia, whose parents have relocated in Plovdiv.
"For 14 years, an entire generation of young children were left without an Armenian education and without contact with each other because they were scattered in a number of public schools," school board member and teacher Malvina Manoogian said.
But the dark days are over, and the Armenian school of Plovdiv is going full speed ahead to make up for the time lost to the hard-line policies of the communist regime. Progress is visible, thanks to a devoted administration and the total support of the Bulgarian government.
Armenian language classes are back, and so are the hundreds of Armenian children gathered under one roof and playing in the same church courtyard where their parents and even grandparents spent their childhood.
The presence of a small contingent of students from Armenia has also been a positive influence. "At first, the newcomers kept to themselves, but have since integrated into the school body. This means greater communication and interaction especially between the Armenian speaking group and students of the same age group who feel more comfortable with Bulgarian as a primary language," a teacher said.
Established as a Sunday School-type facility in 1882 within the walled compound of the Armenian church , the facility became a full-fledged kindergarten and elementary school in 1834.
Its first teacher was Deacon Bedros Stepanian, who was followed by a long line of 95 educators who have each worked at the school for at least three years. The school today employees 28 teachers, and carries the name Victoria and Kevork Tutunjian, Bulgarian-Armenian benefactors with whose generous donation the present premises were built between 1942-44.
The Plovdiv school, the oldest recorded educational institution in Bulgaria, has functioned continuously for decades, graduating thousands of young students until it was axed in the name of a Bulgarization campaign and seized by the authorities in 1976.
But despite the takeover, the actual property was not nationalized.
With the collapse of communism and the advent of democracy, laws were passed allowing the return of most private property to their rightful owners.
"We were lucky to get our old school back quickly and regroup our children under one roof," a school official said.
Under existing Bulgarian laws the Armenian school is considered part of the country's public school system, thus making it eligible for total financial support from the government.
Elsewhere in Bulgaria, the government is by law obliged to provide language teachers to any group of seven students from the country's various ethnic groups gathered in any given school.
Thanks to the perseverance of Professor Edward Selyan, the long-time Armenian education specialist and coordinator at the Bulgarian Ministry of Science and Education, Armenian classes are being offered in many schools across the country.
"In Plovdiv, we have an ideal situation," says Principal Hagop Dayjanian. "This is a government financed Armenian school for Armenian students. This means no tuition, free books, Armenian teachers, and much more at no cost to the community."
"We are very fortunate. This community could not sustain a private school with its own means. Under these favorable conditions, we want to expand the school, possibly add a boarding department on the side and maybe one day bring all Armenian kids in Bulgaria, and even neighboring Romania, under one roof," he said.
A bold concept and a dream which could turn into reality with the collective effort of the Bulgarian Armenian community and the help of Armenians around the world.
The Plovdiv school has moved ahead over the years, survived its early years between 1834 and 1878 when Bulgaria was under Turkish Ottoman occupation, prospered between 1879 to 1944 when Bulgaria was free, and held its own under communism from 1944 to 1976.
The school community also maintained its faith in the future during those dark years between 1976 and 1990 when its students were scattered and a long tradition of Armenian education was broken.
Today it has bounced back out of its darkness. Children are once again playing in the same courtyard used by generations of Armenians.
With generous donations from Bulgarian-Armenian émigrés in the United States and organizations like the Armenian General Benevolent Union, the school has bought two busses which are used to gather the students from various parts of the city.
A book drive by Bulgarian-Armenian activists and AGBU Sofia chapter chairwoman Sevda Sevan and a generous donation from the AGBU Aleppo, Syria, chapter has vastly enriched the textbook supplies of the school.
Once again, the Plovdiv Armenian school is in renaissance.
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Armenians in Bulgaria and Romania
