Protests have erupted in Azerbaijan after a government-approved amendment restricted students and teachers from wearing the hijab in schools, with reports of students boycotting classes and teachers being turned away.
The amendment, approved last month, does not explicitly ban the Muslim headscarf but bars clothing that authorities say violates the “principle of secularism”. The restrictions have led to a backlash as some schools have prevented students and teachers from entering classrooms.
Teacher Zahra Hasanova told an international media outlet that she was informed she could no longer wear the hijab at school.
“To be honest, I am a little emotional. I am hurt,” she said. “[The hijab] is a personal choice, and if one day I want to take it off, that should be my choice too.”
The state-run Azerbaijani Press Agency (APA) said that the amendment to the Descriptions of Uniforms for Students of State General Education Institutions aimed to establish a uniform dress code in line with the country’s secular principles.
Under the revised rules, clothing reflecting Azerbaijan’s history, culture and national values may be worn during celebrations, subject to approval by the Pedagogical Council, which operates under the Ministry of Science and Education.
Around 96 percent of Azerbaijan’s population identifies as Muslim. The country’s constitution defines it as a secular state while guaranteeing freedom of religion.
The restrictions have prompted demonstrations and a social media campaign, with videos circulating online showing students crying and hugging teachers who were prevented from entering schools.
Local media reported that students at at least two schools boycotted classes in protest against the rules.
Imprisoned journalist Polad Aslanov, who is serving a 113-year sentence after his 2020 conviction for high treason, also began a hunger strike over the new requirements.
“Despite being in prison, I am raising my voice against the trampling of our constitutional rights by employing the only means of struggle available to me – a hunger strike,” Aslanov wrote in a message shared on Facebook by his wife Gulmira Aslanova.
Reports of internet blackouts in Azerbaijan have also emerged, although monitoring organisations including the Open Observatory of Network Interference and NetBlocks have not confirmed them through their data.
The opposition to the restrictions has also spread to Turkiye, where demonstrators gathered outside Azerbaijan’s consulate in Istanbul last week and called on authorities in Baku to reconsider the rules.
Some protesters have compared the situation with Turkiye’s 1997 “post-modern coup”, when women wearing headscarves faced restrictions on attending university classes and were dismissed from civil service jobs or forced to resign.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev indirectly criticised the protests in a speech at a congress of his New Azerbaijan Party, warning others not to “interfere with our lifestyle” without naming Turkiye directly.
Ankara has not officially responded to Aliyev’s remarks. However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to increasing discrimination against Muslim women in his September 23 address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
