Azerbaijan’s ruling party has accused Turkish officials and pro-government media of inflaming tensions between Baku and Ankara over restrictions on headscarves in schools, warning that the dispute could damage bilateral relations.
Azerbaijan introduced new dress code regulations for students on September 21 and for teachers on October 6.
Videos circulated online suggest the ban applies specifically to headscarves, despite the official wording not mentioning them directly.
Oktay Saral, a senior adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has said the potential exclusion of students wearing headscarves from education is unacceptable. The Turkish official urged Azerbaijani authorities to reverse the practice.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the New Azerbaijan Party, led by President Ilham Aliyev, censured Saral.
It also accused Turkish media outlets close to the government of publishing reports about Azerbaijan that it said were inconsistent with the facts.
Online videos show Azeri students protesting outside schools, attracting widespread attention on Turkish social media.
The ban on hijab-wearing students and teachers has sparked global condemnation too, with social media users calling it religious persecution of Muslims.
Authorities arrested at least 37 people on Monday during protests against the restrictions, accusing them of violating public order.
Reports also indicated that access to social media platforms, including X, TikTok and Instagram, was restricted that day.
The New Azerbaijan Party has emphasized Azerbaijan’s status as a secular state and rejected attempts to interfere in its domestic affairs.
It said no Muslim-majority country had the right to impose its political or ideological views on another.
The party also warned that using religious issues to exert political pressure on Azerbaijan would be unacceptable, calling on the AKP government to avoid actions that could undermine bilateral relations.
The statement also invoked the principle of “One nation, two states,” a phrase coined by former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev to describe the close linguistic, ethnic and cultural ties between the two countries.
However, the statement said the principle recognized separate sovereignty and did not justify interference in the internal affairs of each other.
Turkey and Azerbaijan maintain close strategic ties, including extensive cooperation in defense, energy and transportation. Ankara was a key supporter of Baku during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.
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