OCTOBER 11, 2014 MirTHErARoMENr IAN -Spe ctator Volume LXXXV, NO. 13, Issue 4356 $ 2.00 NEWS IN BRIEF The First English Language Armenian Weekly in the United States Since 1932 2014 Tekeyan Cultural Biden Apologizes to Turkish President Association Awards Deadline to combat the scourge of ISIL, YEREVAN — The approximately 23 years of cultur - including Turkey.” By Sebnem Arsu al preservation activity of Armenia’s Tekeyan Earlier Saturday, Erdogan had Cultural Association (TCA) has won a special place demanded an apology, saying he in Armenia’s cultural life. The association’s annual ISTANBUL (New York Times) — A diplo - had never made any such remark distribution of awards, which has already turned matic rift between Turkey and the United to Biden. “If Mr. Biden has said into a tradition, has given new meaning and inspi - States was patched over late Saturday after such a thing at Harvard, he needs ration to Armenian artists working in Armenia and the American vice president, Joseph R. to apologize to us,” Erdogan told the diaspora. The 2014 TCA awards ceremony take Biden Jr., officially apologized to Turkey’s reporters here. place at the end of November. Interested authors president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for Erdogan, despite widespread must present their works between October 7 and remarks suggesting that Turkey helped evidence to the contrary, denied November 7 to the TCA office at Yerevan’s facilitate the rise of the Islamic State ter - that Turkey’s long, porous border Khanjyan Street No. 50, second floor. rorist group. had enabled thousands of mili - Vice president, Joseph R. Biden Jr. There are four categories of prizes (financial In remarks at Harvard University on tants to cross onto the Syrian and awards): 1. Literature, from the TCA Shake Thursday, Biden said Erdogan had admit - Iraqi battlefields since the Syrian Ghazarian Fund; 2. Music, from the TCA Shake ted erring in allowing foreign fighters to civil war began in 2011. “Foreign fighters Speaking at the John F. Kennedy School Ghazarian Fund; 3. The fine arts, from the TCA cross Turkey’s border into Syria, eventually never crossed into Syria from our country,” of Government, Biden said allies including Shake Ghazarian Fund; and 4. Ara-Maral (works for leading to the formation of the group, also Erdogan said. “They would cross into Syria Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab children), from the Silva Der-Stepanian Fund. known as ISIS and ISIL. from Turkey on tourist passports, but Emirates had extended unconditional Special committees will serve as juries for each cat - Biden’s spokeswoman, Kendra Barkoff, nobody can claim that they have crossed financial and logistical support to Sunni egory. TCA of USA (Eastern) and Canada provide said in an emailed statement that the two with arms.” see APOLOGY, page 16 major funding for these awards. leaders spoke by phone on Saturday. “The vice president apologized for any implica - tion that Turkey or other allies and part - Azeri Gunfire Kills ners in the region had intentionally sup - Chairman of Board of Pasadena Armenian plied or facilitated the growth of ISIL or Armenian in Karabagh other violent extremists in Syria,” Barkoff Genocide Memorial Announces Resignation STEPANAKERT (RFE/RL) — An Armenian soldier said. “The United States greatly values the serving in Nagorno-Karabagh has been killed by commitments and sacrifices made by our PASADENA, Calif. (Pasadena “It is my belief that the board has failed in gunfire coming from Azerbaijan. allies and partners from around the world Independent) — William M. Paparian, for - that fiduciary obligation owed to the com - Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun mer mayor of Pasadena, announced his res - munity.” Hovannisyan said on October 2 that Karabagh ignation as chairman of the board of direc - The memorial, approved by the Pasadena Army soldier David Navasardyan “died of fatal tors of the Pasadena Armenian Genocide City Council in September 2013, has been wounds after Azerbaijani forces opened fire on Gyumri Information Memorial amid allegations that the board scheduled to be completed and dedicated at October 1.” treasurer provided fraudulent background the north side of Memorial Park in April Exchanges of gunfire along the front-line bound - Technology Center information about himself, that the treasur - 2015 to mark the 100th anniversary of the ary that separates Nagorno-Karabagh and er failed to follow California law regarding killing of 1.5 million Armenians over a Azerbaijan have been common. Director Yeghoyan legal filings and that other board members three-year period beginning in 1915. Tensions flared in early August and dozens of did nothing to address it. On August 6, the webmaster and social people on were killed along the disputed border Visits East Coast “California law requires that the board of media coordinator for the memorial report - during a brief period of heightened hostilities. directors carry out their responsibilities in ed to the board that the bio of the treasur - good faith and with such care, including er had been removed from the website By Aram Arkun reasonable inquiry, as would be used by an (www.pasagmc.org) due to the discovery Returned Azeri POW to Mirror-Spectator Staff ordinarily prudent person,” said Paparian. see PASADENA, page 16 Be Examined YEREVAN (Armenpress) — Hakob Injighulyan was WATERTOWN, Mass. — The city of returned to Armenia via a third party country after Gumri, Armenia’s second largest center of his captivity in Azerbaijan. He is scheduled to population, suffered greatly during the undergo a medical examination at the Saint 1988 earthquake, and even today has not Comedy Legend Andrea Gregory the Illuminator Medical Center. A profes - fully recovered from that heavy blow. sional group has been assembled to carry out the Despite the fact that it had many important medical examination, the results of which will institutions of higher learning, and was Martin Releases New Book determine if Injighulyan is able to continue his mil - able to prepare a new generation of edu - itary service. cated young people, the earthquake and Injighulyan, 23, while serving in the Armenian the changes in Armenia’s economy after By Alin K. Gregorian military, lost his bearings the night of August 7-8, independence left little opportunity for Mirror-Spectator Staff at about 3 a.m. and crossed into Azerbaijan. On employment locally. Young people were August 8 the Armenian Office of the International forced to emigrate to Yerevan and abroad in SAN FRANCISCO — For anyone Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) appeared to droves. The Gyumri Information who is a fan of comedy, Andrea the ICRC Baku Office about the incident. Technology Center (GITC) was created 10 Martin’s name is a familiar one. years ago to counter this negative trend. Its From her early television pres - executive director, Amalya Yeghoyan, visit - ence on the Canadian sketch show ed New York, Philadelphia and Boston at “SCTV,” where a host of insane the end of September and early October in characters people the headquarters INSI DE order to promote the center’s work. She of a fictitious television station, to had a number of private meetings along her recent turn on Broadway, with several public presentations, including Martin has gone from strength to one at the Armenian Museum of America in strength in her four decades enter - Lowell Watertown. taining audiences. see IT, page 2 The actress and comedienne, who divides her time between New Awards York and Toronto, jokes that she is often thought to be Jewish and Page 4 Canadian, but indeed, she is an Armenian and a Mainer. “I don’t think I said I was Jewish. It is just that no one knew I was Armenian and it was easy for peo - ple to assume it,” she said. Martin, 67, when not donning wigs or prosthetic butts or guts, is a beautiful INDEX woman. However, she did not always see herself that way. “I don’t think it was Arts and Living . 10 until I was a lot older that I was comfortable with how I looked. It was 1995, Armenia . 2 when I was 47-48, that I believed I had any merit looking like myself,” that she Community News. 4 could be “really sexy and pretty and really comfortable with myself.” Editorial . 14 International . 3 Executive Director Amalya Yeghoyan with see MARTIN, page 11 local host Joseph Dagdigian 2 S ATURDAY , O CTOBER 11, 2014 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR ARMENIA News From Armenia Gyumri Information Technology Center Director Yeghoyan Visits East Coast Artsakh at Paris IT, from page 1 all this. Each year it produced 20 grad - to Yerevan but it was too expensive for While at the Mirror-Spectator , uates, so that up to the present there her parents. Instead, she worked as a Tourism Expo Yeghoyan explained that Gumri (the have been a total of 140 graduates, of volunteer as a journalist and then at a Mirror traditionally uses this transliter - whom 90 percent work in Armenia, and psychology center. Then she studied at YEREVAN (Armenpress) — The IFTM Top-Resa ation of the name, while Gyumri is the 40 percent in Gumri. the Gumri Pedagogical Institute while 2014 annual international tourism expo was held form used by GITC in English) was still GITC began to be sought after for working part-time as a translator to September 23-26 in Paris. The Nagorno Karabagh in dire straits in 2005. A group of projects in other parts of Armenia and earn her tuition. After getting married delegation, headed by Chief of Tourism and young professionals visiting through in Artsakh. In 2009, the Armenian and having children, thought she Historical Environment Protection Department the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR) Educational Foundation (AEF, based in would have to leave Armenia in order Sergey Shahverdyan, participated in the exhibition.