AZERBAIJANI-AMERICANS CELEBRATE MAY 28 - NATIONAL DAY OF AZERBAIJAN AND AZERBAIJANIS
Ninety-one year ago, on May 28, 1918, a new republic was born - Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR). It became the first-ever
successful attempt to create a parliamentary democracy in the entire Muslim world. During its short, but historic and game-changing
independence years, ADR achieved increddible results, ranging from
creating a full range of functioning institutions to being a model on
protection and high-level representation of ethno-religious minorities
and empowerment of women the through granting of the universal
suffrage and ability to vote. ADR was de facto recognized by the
League of Nations (one week ahead of Armenia, one should add) and
established diplomatic relations with most of the leading powers, as
well as signed allied agreements with Turkey and Georgia, and has
achieved many other notable historic acts which set the example and
precedent for the Third Republic (the modern Republic of Azerbaijan).
To celebrate this achievement of our ancestors, May 28 has been
designated as an official holiday in Azerbaijan and is observed by all
Azerbaijanis worldwide, including Azerbaijani-Americans, as a time for
unity, celebration and reflection. Aside from conferences, seminars,
other cultural and educational activities, the U.S. Azeris Network and
the Azerbaijani-American community traditionally request their elected
officials to issue proclamations and citations, to jointly observe
this important historic day. USAN has received proclamations from the
Mayor of Baltimore (Maryland) and Mayor of Sparks (Nevada), and
expects more proclamations from the following states: VA, MD, PA, FL, WY and MA. All of these proclamations are
available on USAN website:
The U.S. Azeris Network (USAN) <http://www.usazeris.org/> is a registered non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian genuine grassroots advocacy and voter education network that is facilitating political activism and efforts by the Azerbaijani-Americans and other Turkic-Americans and their associations, organizations, councils, conferences, and other formal, semi-formal and informal groups, on federal, state and local levels. USAN is the first nationwide grassroots organization uniting Azerbaijani-Americans, being created by the grassroots, for the grassroots.
