Diaspora

Home page

Diaspora

Azerbaijani and Turkish Diasporas in the US send letter to Obama

03 March 2011 08:50 (UTC +04:00)

"All Turkic people from Caucasus to Central Asia and beyond celebrate Nowruz and the coming of the Spring - a wonderful tradition going back several millenniums. Nowruz generally falls around March 21, corresponding to the vernal equinox, when the day and night are of equal length. Novruz is an official holiday in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and a public holiday in Turkey. Other Turkic peoples such as Uyghurs, Yakuts, Karakalpaks, Volga or Kazan Tatars, Bashkirs and Crimean Tatars also participate in spring celebrationsâ€, say the letters.

The authors remind that in subsequent years Azerbaijan, Turkey and other Turkic nations were left out from US Presidentâ€™s message on Nowruz celebration and this ancient holiday was targeted only at Iran and the Persian-American community.

â€œWe urge President Obama to mention Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani-Americans, Turkey and Turkish-Americans, and all Turkic-Americans in the annual Presidential message on Nowruz celebrations, because for some reason we were left out in the 2006-2010 addresses. May this ancient, peaceful and fun tradition bring all people closer, increase dialog between civilizations, promote mutual understanding and cultural diversityâ€, mention the letters.