Turkiye, Azerbaijan leaders vow unity after tensions

SHUSHA, (Azerbaijan): Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev vowed Sunday that their countries’ alliance would remain solid, in a show of unity aimed at overcoming a public rift between the close neighbours.

Tensions flared in September, when Baku revised school uniform regulations to prohibit clothing deemed incompatible with secular education, effectively barring Islamic headscarves in classrooms.

Erdogan’s government has dismantled restrictions on hijabs in Turkiye.

Azerbaijan’s move sparked protests at home and drew criticism from Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP). Presidential adviser Oktay Saral demanded that Azerbaijan reverse the restrictions.