Azerbaijan's ruling party has publicly accused Turkey of manufacturing a diplomatic crisis over Baku's new headscarf ban...

Azerbaijan's ruling party has publicly accused Turkey of manufacturing a diplomatic crisis over Baku's new headscarf ban in schools, calling out Turkish officials by name and warning that the two countries' relationship could take serious damage. The New Azerbaijan Party singled out Oktay Saral, a senior adviser to Turkish President Erdogan, after he demanded on social media that Baku reverse the ban and called it unacceptable to bar hijab-wearing students from classrooms. The Azerbaijani party said Turkish media close to the AKP government was spreading reports about Azerbaijan that were flat-out false. The headscarf regulations were introduced for students on September 21 and for teachers on October 6. On Monday, Baku arrested at least 37 people for protesting against the ban and reportedly throttled internet access, cutting off X, TikTok and Instagram. Footage of Azerbaijani students crying outside school gates went viral on Turkish social media and fueled the pressure on Ankara to speak up. Azerbaijan's ruling party pushed back hard. It said no state in the Islamic world had the right to dictate to another Muslim country, and took a pointed jab at Erdogan by adding that claims to Muslim unity mean nothing unless they come with mutual respect rather than what the party called "hegemonic tendencies." The statement also reaffirmed that Azerbaijan is constitutionally a secular state. The row has exposed other fault lines too. Turkish users on X have been criticizing Azerbaijan's close ties with Israel, particularly after Baku stayed in the UN hall during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address last month. The Azerbaijani party defended those ties as grounded in international law, and reiterated support for a two-state solution with East Jerusalem as Palestine's capital. Turkey and Azerbaijan have historically called themselves "one nation, two states," a phrase coined by former Azerbaijani president Heydar Aliyev. Baku's ruling party made clear that phrase does not give Ankara a license to meddle in Azerbaijani domestic affairs. #Azerbaijan #Turkey #Geopolitics