Vesti Baku
Azerbaijan’s Media and Broadcasting Council has rejected reports that mass arrests have begun in the country over the hijab and that citizens are leaving Azerbaijan for that reason, calling the claims disinformation.
The council said the allegations had been circulated by some Turkish media outlets and social-media accounts. Its statement was published on October 22 by Report.az and APA.
In the official statement, the council said assertions about mass detentions and people leaving Azerbaijan were an attempt to manipulate public opinion through religious sensitivities and create a false picture of the country.
Baku Issues a New Official Response
The council also criticized political and public figures who helped spread the claims, particularly when unverified statements were accompanied by insulting rhetoric. It said such conduct was incompatible with the public responsibility of people who influence large audiences.
The organization urged newsrooms, politicians and public figures to verify information before publishing it. It advised citizens to treat reports from unverified sources critically and avoid amplifying them.
The statement was Baku’s second official response to reporting in Turkey’s media space within several days.
On October 19, the Azerbaijan Press Council called on Turkish news organizations to correct what it described as inaccurate reports about school uniforms and urged them not to turn the issue into a religious confrontation.
The latest statement came from a different state body and addressed a narrower allegation: that mass arrests were taking place and people were leaving Azerbaijan because of the hijab dispute.
Originally published in Russian by Vesti Baku.