Ambassador Matthew Bryza graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International relations, Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from Tufts University. He is married to Zeyno Baran, a Turkish American scholar. Bryza is fluent in Russian and Polish, and also speaks German and Spanish, and conversational Azerbaijani language.
Azerbaijani and Turkish Diasporas have embarked on a new campaign by sending hundreds of letters urging US President Barack Obama to mention Turkish peoples in his Novruz congratulatory message.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Nowruz with different spelling shows up in official calendars of Iran, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Albania, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Autonomous Region of Kurdistan (part of Iraq) and Georgia.
Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the Iranian year. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox (the start of spring in the northern hemisphere), which usually occurs either on March 20 on March 21.