Azerbaijan Republic's Day Celebration in California

AZERBAIJANI AMERICAN COUNCIL OF CALIFORNIA
P.O. Box 11943, Newport Beach, CA 92658, USA
Email: office@california.azeris.org
Web: http://california.azeris.org

Press Release PR-200606#01
June 2nd, 2006

THE AZERBAIJAN REPUBLIC'S DAY CELEBRATION IN CALIFORNIA

On May 31, 2006, the Azerbaijani American Council of California (AACC)
joined the official reception organized in Los Angeles, celebrating
the 88th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Republic's Day. The reception
was hosted at Beverly Hills Country Club by the Consulate General of
Azerbaijan in Los Angeles. Over 120 representatives of Azerbaijani-
and Turkish-American organizations, U.S. officials, diplomats from
Azerbaijan and Turkey, scholars, and business elite joined the
reception.

The event started with a welcome speech from the Consul General of
Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, Mr. Elin Suleymanov, who outlined the
importance of Republic's Day in Azerbaijani history and the formation
of Azerbaijan as a first parliamentary democracy in the Muslim world.
Mr. Suleymanov further highlighted that modern Azerbaijan remains a
key regional ally of the United States in global fight against
terrorism through its active engagement in peace-keeping operations in
Afghanistan and Iraq.

After the welcoming speech, the AACC representative Ms. Narmina
Mamedova read the proclamation issued in celebration of Azerbaijan
Republic's Day by the Mayor of Los Angeles County Board of
Supervisors, Michael Antonovich. On behalf of AACC, Mr. Javid Huseynov
and Mr. Farrokh Nakhjavani announced the recent establishment of AACC
as a non-profit organization, talked about its directions and
objectives in organizing Azerbaijani community in the State of
California. They also mentioned the recent AACC greeting ad in
celebration of the Republic's Day posted in Los Angeles Times and San
Francisco Chronicle.

The reception continued with an honorary guest speech from Mr. Thomas
Goltz, an American journalist and scholar, and the author of
"Azerbaijan Diary". After greeting the audience in Azerbaijani and
English, Mr. Goltz talked about the recent completion of
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, delivering Caspian hydrocarbons to
Western markets. Mr. Goltz highlighted the importance of BTC pipeline
in the development of Azerbaijani economy, its contribution to global
energy security and strengthening of regional security alliance
between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey as important U.S. allies, and
further integration of these states into the Euro-Atlantic community.
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The Azerbaijani American Council of California (AACC) is a non-profit
organization dedicated to promoting the interests of Azerbaijani
diaspora in the State of California, and enhancing the knowledge about
Azerbaijan, its culture and people.