Azerbaijan defends school dress rules as hijab protests, arrests and Turkey row grow

Party defends the rules

Azerbaijan's governing Yeni Azerbaijan Party (YAP) defended the new school dress rules on Tuesday, 13 October, and told its close ally Turkey to stay out of the country's domestic affairs. The Cabinet of Ministers approved a decree on 21 September that bars pupils from clothing that departs from the official school uniform or clashes with the secular character of state education. A separate measure covering teachers followed on 6 October, and checks on compliance began in Baku schools on 12 October. The text never mentions the headscarf, yet reports say pupils and teachers wearing one have been refused entry, and teachers told BBC Azerbaijani that school managers in Baku and Sumgait asked them to remove the headscarf or leave their jobs. Officials have not published how the rule will be applied, including whether a pupil in non-uniform clothing may still attend lessons.

Protests and arrests

Protests began on 10 October, after authorities announced that school management would monitor pupils' and teachers' clothing. RFI reports that pupils in Balakhany, a Baku suburb, rallied after a girl was turned away from lessons in a headscarf. Clashes between protesters and school staff followed when the checks started in Baku on 12 October. The Interior Ministry said 37 people had been detained for disrupting public order, and on 13 October it reported seven more arrests, including five pupils in grades 10 and 11 suspected of organising arson. Activists, cited by the Caucasian Knot, put the number detained on 12 October at more than 200, a claim that some official media also repeated without naming a source. Reports also describe a car belonging to a school director being burned in Garadagh district, and unknown people throwing stones at a school in Bina on 13 October, injuring two pupils.

1. Sep 21, 2026Cabinet of Ministers approves decree on secular student dress
2. Oct 6, 2026Same dress rules extended to teachers
3. Oct 8, 2026Jailed journalist Polad Aslanov begins hunger strike in support of headscarf-wearing pupils
4. Oct 10, 2026Protests begin after school management is told to monitor clothing
5. Oct 12, 2026Dress-code checks begin in Baku schools; Interior Ministry reports 37 detained
6. Oct 13, 2026Interior Ministry reports seven more arrests, five of them pupils suspected of arson

Online access

Users in Azerbaijan reported trouble reaching Instagram and TikTok once the protests began, and some also reported slow YouTube and Gmail logins. BBC Persian checked with its own contacts and found that only one of eight could open TikTok. Officials have neither confirmed a block nor explained any disruption. The access problems have fed speculation that the government restricted internet use during the protests, but no source has established this. The Caucasian Knot reported the same access difficulties.

Turkey and the political row

Oktay Saral, an adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, wrote on X on Monday that denying education to Azerbaijani students who wear headscarves was "unacceptable". He added a direct appeal, quoted here:

A headscarf is not an obstacle; it is a requirement of religious belief.

He also asked Azerbaijan to reverse the measure as soon as possible. AK Party lawmakers criticised the rules too, including Müfit Aydın from Bursa, who called for the practice to end, and party spokesman Ömer Çelik said on 7 October that the two countries would not let political tension arise between them. On Tuesday YAP condemned Saral's remarks as "populist and irresponsible" and warned they risked harming relations. The party noted that Turkey is also constitutionally secular, and invoked the principle of "one nation, two states" to reject interference in Azerbaijan's domestic affairs. Protesters gathered outside Azerbaijan's consulate in Istanbul, and ANSA reports that President Ilham Aliyev criticised the protests without naming Turkey, asking that nothing interfere with the country's way of life. Ankara has not responded officially.

Background and wider context

Azerbaijan's constitution separates religion from the state and guarantees freedom of religion, and the population is predominantly Muslim, though the share differs by source: BBC Persian says more than 90%, while ANSA cites about 96%. BBC Azerbaijani recalls that a similar school uniform regulation in 2010 led to protests between 2010 and 2012, and that the government then stepped back. İlkin Hasanov of the BBC Azerbaijani Service argues that the government is now stronger after its victory in the 2020 Second Karabakh War. Polad Aslanov, a journalist serving a 16-year sentence, began a hunger strike on 8 October, demanding protection for his daughter and other pupils in headscarves. A July amendment to the General Education Law had already stressed the secular nature of education.