Azerbaijan Republic's Day celebration in California

As AACC reports, 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.