Happy Nevruz to you, too, Mr. Obama

Nevruz is celebrated by quite a few people in this part of the world, but it is first and foremost a Persian tradition.

The Iranians, whose civilization is truly deep-rooted and well-established, started to celebrate this festival of the "New Day" at least 2,000 years ago and they have defined its meaning and content.

A troubled feast

In Turkey, Nevruz used to be a mainly a Kurdish tradition. No wonder in the 80's, as a Turk growing up in Ankara, the citadel of Turkishness, I had heard nothing about it. Yet toward the 90's Nevruz started to make the headlines, because its celebrations, at which Kurdish youngsters jumped over burning tires, turned into a manifestation of Kurdish identity.

In the face of that, Ankara chose do what it knows best: banning. Finally, in the mid-90's, a "reform" came about and it was declared that the previously outlawed holiday was actually "a well-established Turkic tradition" which we should all honor. Then I saw bureaucrats and ministers jumping on fires in order to celebrate this "national" holiday.

Yet there was one important detail. The "Turkified" holiday was now officialy called "Nevruz", and the way the Kurds spelt it, "Newroz," was again illegal.

That obsession with the "right" (i.e., Turkish) spelling still goes on: The Governorship of Kars recently refused the appeal by the DTP organization in the city to celebrate Newroz because of the despised "W".

Anyway, the never-ending obsessions of Turkey are a separate matter. Let me to go back President Obama and his Nevruz remarks. It was, in particular, addressed "directly to the people and leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Obama kindly mentioned how "great a civilization" the Iranians are, praised their culture, and emphasized the "common humanity that binds us together." He, then, noted that he wants to achieve an engagement with Tehran "that is honest and grounded in mutual respect."

I am no Iranian, but Iranians are a neighboring people that I respect and care for. I really don’t want to see them bombed and attacked for their nuclear program. I un derstand that they might need, and have the right to achieve, nuclear energy, but I don’t want to see them risking another war in the Middle East by trying to build a nuclear arsenal.

When they seemingly strive for the latter, and speak eagerly about the destruction of Israel, they unavoidably raise suspicions in Tel Aviv and Washington. Whether these suspicions are realistic or not can be debated. Their existence is real, though, and Iran will achieve nothing by further provoking them.

That’s why I very much hope that a diplomatic solution will be found to the growing crisis on Iran’s nuclear program. With the previous American administration, this was not very probable.

The best language Washington knew was bellicose. But the Obama Administration is obviously different. The reconciliatory message that the new U.S. President has been giving to Iran, including this latest Nevruz celebration, is quite notable. Iranian leaders would be missing a huge opportunity if they close their ears.

I know that even Obama doesn’t say the things Iranians would love hear. "[Americans] first should apologize to the Iranian nation," Iranian President Ahmadinejad recently said, "and try to make up for their dark background." Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a similar way, dismissed Obama’s reconciliatory tone and argued that his is "the same wrong path as the Bush administration and nothing less."

The half-full glass

But, oh, come onÉ Iranians must be smart enough to understand nuance. Neither Obama nor any other U.S. President will look at the world with Iranian eyes. None of them will offer a full glass.

But if they offer a half-full glass, that is still a remarkable gesture that needs to be appreciated. When Obama takes one step, the only right thing to do for the Iranians is to take a corresponding one. That is how diplomacy works, that is how confidence and peace are built.

Therefore, I commend President Obama for doing his part on approaching Iran. He is constantly showing us that the "change" he promised, and many of us belived, was not a lie.

May his Newroz be blessed, tooÉ And I very much hope and pray that our Iranian neighbors will appreciate his effort and respond wisely by unclenching their fists.

They should also not forget that if they make Obama’s moderation fail, those hawks in America who depict him as a na?ve liberal that shows unnecessary weakness against "America’s enemies," will be empowered. If that happens, all the glasses that America offers will be just empty.