Proper recognition of Azerbaijani National Day urged from U.S.

Gulizar Moyer sent a letter to The New Herald that was published under the article ‘Recognition plea for Azerbaijani National Day’, that urges to request a proper recognition of Azerbaijani National Day by the legislative and executive branches of our government.

The article reads that Azerbaijani-Americans will celebrate their National Day on May 28.

Ninety-four years ago on that day, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was proclaimed, becoming the world's first predominantly Muslim secular democracy. Within two years of existence, prior to the Soviet Bolshevik occupation of Azerbaijan in April 1920, ADR established functional democratic institutions, including the parliament and elected multi-party representative government. Among other key achievements of Azerbaijani democracy were the 1919 universal suffrage law, which preceded its U.S. equivalent in granting women the right to vote, and the development of a uniform civic identity independent of ethnic, racial or religious differences.
“Sharing impressions after his meeting with the Azerbaijani delegation at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, President Woodrow Wilson remarked that Azerbaijani leaders "talked the same language (that he did) in respect of ideas, in respect of conceptions of liberty, in respect of conceptions of right and justice." These words of President Wilson were a testament of Azerbaijani success, building a free society that practices justice and tolerance,” Moyer said.

After World War II, some exiled descendants of ADR founders settled in the United States and, in 1957, established Azerbaijan Society of America — a grassroots organization representing Azerbaijani community on American soil. Throughout the decades of Soviet domination in Azerbaijan, ASA preserved the heritage of the first republic and continues to do so today.
“On the occasion of upcoming May 28, I join members of ASA as well as those of Azerbaijani-American Council, the Pax Turcica Institute, and all Azerbaijani- and Turkic-Americans, to request a proper recognition of Azerbaijani National Day by the legislative and executive branches of our government. Sample text of such recognition is available at http://national.azeris.org.”