Azerbaijan said Friday it had charged a Turkish newspaper columnist with calling for the violent overthrow of the government, amid tensions between the close allies over restrictions on Islamic headscarves in schools.
The case comes amid a rare public row between Baku and Ankara, with criticism of the restrictions from Turkish officials prompting accusations of interference from Azerbaijan’s ruling party.
The prosecutor general’s office said Celal Çiftçi, a columnist for the Turkish Şanlıurfa Olay newspaper, had been declared internationally wanted and that investigators were requesting assistance from Turkish authorities.
An Azerbaijani court also issued an arrest warrant for Çiftçi in his absence, according to local media citing the prosecutor general’s office.
He faces charges of repeatedly calling for “seizure of power in the Republic of Azerbaijan through a coup and the use of force” and promoting “religious extremism,” the office said in a statement.
Prosecutors said the investigation concerned social media posts circulated after a September 21 government decree on school uniforms in Azerbaijan.
They alleged the material, including content generated using artificial intelligence, advocated a coup and religious violence.
The statement did not reproduce the posts or provide a response from Çiftçi. It also gave no details of his whereabouts.
The decree bars students from wearing clothing or accessories that conflict with school uniform requirements or the country’s principle of secular education.
Although it does not explicitly mention the hijab, girls wearing it have reportedly been turned away from schools, prompting protests.
Oktay Saral, an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, criticized the exclusion of headscarf-wearing pupils on Monday and urged Azerbaijan to change course.
President Ilham Aliyev’s ruling New Azerbaijan Party responded Tuesday by accusing Saral and lawmakers from Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) of interfering in Azerbaijan’s internal affairs.
The party defended the education rules as consistent with the country’s secular constitution and warned that Turkish criticism risked damaging bilateral relations.
Turkey and Azerbaijan share close political, military and cultural ties, describing their relationship as “one nation, two states.”
An ex-Soviet republic, Azerbaijan is a mainly Shiite Muslim country, but after decades of Soviet rule it emerged as one of the most secular states in the Muslim world.
Agence France-Presse, with reporting from Turkish Minute
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