By AZE.US Editorial Team
Azerbaijan did not leave one empire to become the ideological province of another.
Turkish politicians demanding changes to Azerbaijan’s school rules must understand a basic principle: alliance does not mean submission.
Oktay Saral, a chief adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said restrictions affecting students who wear headscarves were unacceptable and called on Azerbaijan to abandon the practice. Müfit Aydın, a lawmaker from Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, went further, demanding an immediate end to it in the name of brotherhood.
That is where a debate about a child’s rights becomes a debate about political seniority.
A student’s right to education deserves protection. A school administration’s decisions can be debated, challenged and reviewed. But the formula “you must do this because we are brothers” implies that one brother gives orders and the other obeys.
Azerbaijan signed no such agreement.
The ruling New Azerbaijan Party called the statements by Saral and AKP representatives populist and irresponsible and demanded respect for the country’s sovereignty. That is the ruling party’s position, but the issue is broader than party politics.
Citizens can dispute their own government’s policy and criticize school rules while consistently rejecting attempts by foreign politicians to issue demands to Baku in the name of “brotherhood.”
Turkey Was Stronger When It Offered a Future
For many Azerbaijanis, Turkey’s appeal lay in the possibility of a modern Muslim-majority country with strong universities, industry, a vibrant cultural life, trade and ties to Europe.
Turkey showed that heritage and faith did not require society to live under the political guardianship of religious authorities. That was the Turkey many wanted to see as a model.
The old republic was not flawless. Military coups, repression, discrimination and restrictions imposed on women wearing headscarves are also part of its history. Defending a secular state does not require defending those abuses.
But Turkey’s most convincing achievements were tied to modernization and stronger institutions. The World Bank says reforms, foreign investment, expanding global value chains and rising productivity drove exceptional growth in the 2000s, taking the country from lower-middle-income status to the threshold of high-income status by 2014.
Much of that rise took place under the AKP. That makes the lesson even clearer: the party achieved its best results while continuing reforms and pursuing European integration. The European path served as an anchor for change.
Turkey’s appeal rested on working institutions and expanding opportunity. Political use of religion cannot replace either.
Citizens Pay for Political Slogans
Supporters of the current course often measure a state’s greatness by the volume of its declarations. Ordinary people measure strength differently: the purchasing power of wages, fairness in the courts, family security and opportunities for their children.
Official annual inflation in Turkey reached 85.51% in October 2022. That is a historical figure, not today’s rate, but it records the price citizens paid for economic failure as the income and savings of millions lost value.
It would be wrong to explain inflation through religion alone. It is equally wrong to hide policy failures behind claims of spiritual superiority. Neither pious slogans nor stories of imperial grandeur restore a family’s lost savings.
The European trajectory tells a similar story. The Council of the European Union says accession negotiations effectively came to a standstill in 2018 as Turkey moved further away from the bloc. Rule of law and basic freedoms remain central concerns.
Our judgment is straightforward: Turkey served its own citizens better and was more persuasive abroad when its political project expanded opportunity and moved the country closer to legal standards. A course that turns faith into a test of political loyalty narrows that horizon.
Foreign Headscarves Are Easier to See Than Domestic Obligations
Lectures about girls’ rights sound particularly strange from representatives of a government that withdrew Turkey from the Istanbul Convention on preventing violence against women and domestic violence. The withdrawal took effect on July 1, 2021.
The withdrawal did not erase every national mechanism protecting women. But the political choice is a matter of record: Ankara left an international framework designed to combat violence. The Council of Europe confirms that Turkey is no longer a party to the convention.
Representatives of that same government now offer a neighboring country lessons in protecting women’s rights.
Women’s rights cannot be defended selectively, only when a woman’s clothing is useful for a party statement. Those rights include safety, education, independence and the ability to live without coercion.
A girl has the right to learn. She also has the right not to be turned into the banner of somebody else’s political campaign.
“Two States” Is Not a Decorative Part of the Slogan
In the phrase “one nation, two states,” the second half has a concrete meaning.
Azerbaijan has its own constitution, institutions and responsibilities to its citizens. Its secular system does not require permission from Ankara. Turkey’s own constitution defines the republic as democratic, secular and social, governed by the rule of law.
Saral holds a senior position, so his words carry political weight. But without separate confirmation, they cannot automatically be presented as a direct personal statement from Erdoğan. Nor do several public interventions prove that a single center is directing an entire campaign.
The public record is enough for criticism. A presidential adviser called on Baku to change its practice. A lawmaker demanded immediate action in the name of brotherhood. We consider that tone unacceptable because it replaces an equal conversation with a claim to determine an ally’s domestic decisions.
Today the pressure concerns school clothing. If the principle of political seniority is accepted, tomorrow it can be invoked to justify demands on any other issue.
Gratitude Does Not Become Submission
Turkey’s support matters to Azerbaijan. The friendship between our societies has a value that should not be placed at the service of one political party.
But gratitude for support is not an open-ended power of attorney for interference. An ally does not gain the right to direct another country’s school policy. Historical closeness does not create an obligation to copy somebody else’s religious-political course.
We need a Turkey that respects Azerbaijan’s independence, a Turkey whose influence rests on education, economic strength, culture and confidence in its word.
AKP leaders have enough domestic problems to address without trying to discipline Baku.
Azerbaijani schools must answer to Azerbaijani society and Azerbaijani law. Turkish politicians should stop confusing brotherhood with the right to command.
This editorial was originally published in Russian by Vesti Baku.