Azerbaijan’s ruling party criticizes Erdogan adviser — Dawn

A public dispute with Turkey has intensified in Azerbaijan over restrictions on wearing headscarves in schools and the differing approaches of Baku and Ankara to relations with Israel. The ruling New Azerbaijan Party criticized Oktay Saral, an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and lawmakers from his Justice and Development Party for what it described as populist and irresponsible statements, Dawn reports.

Dispute over school uniforms

Saral spoke out against changes to school uniform rules that prohibit clothing items conflicting with the standard uniform or the secular principles of education. He called Baku’s move unacceptable and urged the Azerbaijani authorities to reverse the decision.

The following day, the New Azerbaijan Party said that an increasingly aggressive, systematic and defamatory disinformation campaign was being conducted against the country. The dispute exposed differences between Azerbaijan, described in the report as one of the most secular states in the Muslim world, and Turkey’s political leadership.

Differences over Israel

The tensions also concern Azerbaijan’s closer ties with Israel after the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, when Israel supplied Baku with drones and other weapons. At the same time, Turkey’s relations with Israel have sharply deteriorated: Erdogan accused Israel of genocide in Gaza, while Ankara regularly released information about contacts with Hamas leaders.

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The pro-government Turkish outlet Yeni Safak linked the headscarf rules to a gesture toward Israel. Azerbaijan’s ruling party rejected what it said were attempts to distort Azerbaijani-Israeli relations and use them for political accusations against Baku.

Kürşad Zorlu, deputy chairman of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party, said the two countries know how to resolve problems “within the family.” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also stressed the strong ties between the leaders of the two states during a regional summit in Baku.

Meanwhile, Baku reported the issuance of an international arrest warrant for Turkish journalist Celal Çiftçi, who works for the Sanliurfa Olay newspaper. According to prosecutors, he called for a coup in Azerbaijan and promoted religious extremism.