Azerbaijan has barred several Turkish citizens from entering the country over social media comments criticising its restrictions on the wearing of hijabs in schools.
The Azerbaijani government introduced new school uniform regulations last month that effectively prevented female students from wearing hijabs from attending classes.
The move has sparked protests in Azerbaijan and drawn international condemnation, with rights groups warning that the measures discriminate against Muslim girls and undermine their right to education.
It has also triggered backlash in Turkey, which shares close ethnic, religious, cultural and historical ties with Azerbaijan.
Online criticism from Turkish citizens has prompted Azerbaijan to bar 31 Turks from entering the country, turning the hijab restrictions into a diplomatic dispute between the two countries.
Oktay Saral, a chief adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, publicly condemned the new dress code.
Azerbaijani officials denounced his remarks as inappropriate and accused Turkish political figures of interfering in the country’s domestic affairs.
Secularism has been a central principle of Azerbaijan’s political leadership since the country’s founding, a position reinforced during the Soviet era.
Azerbaijan’s population is predominantly Muslim, with a Shia majority.
Hijab restrictions spark protests and arrests
The school regulations have led to pupils and teachers wearing hijabs being denied entry to schools across Azerbaijan, resulting in protests and acts of civil disobedience.
Some demonstrations reportedly turned violent, and authorities arrested dozens of people amid a broader crackdown on dissent.
Amnesty International has called on the Azerbaijani authorities to reverse the restrictions and release peaceful protesters, warning that the measures violate the rights to education, religious freedom and freedom of expression.
Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said: “Mass arrests of peaceful protesters alongside participants in violent riots, including the reported detention of a mother protesting against her daughter’s exclusion from school, and the disappearance of an activist who aimed to help affected girls, are typical of the state’s violent suppression of the lawful exercise of the right to protest peacefully, and the crackdown on freedom of expression and all dissent in Azerbaijan.
“Denying girls access to classrooms because they wear a hijab is discriminatory and violates their rights to education, and the freedoms of religion and expression. The secular character of public education doesn’t justify a blanket restriction on religious dress.
President Ilham Aliyev has ruled Azerbaijan since 2003, with opposition politicians and independent journalists among those imprisoned amid longstanding restrictions on political dissent.
