On Sunday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Azerbaijan's Fizuli district, which Baku recaptured in 2020 from Armenian separatist forces. (EPA Images pic)BAKU: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Azerbaijan on Sunday for Victory Day celebrations, hoping to ease an unusually public rift between two close regional allies.
Tensions flared in September, when Baku revised school uniform regulations to prohibit additions deemed incompatible with secular education, effectively barring Islamic headscarves from classrooms.
Erdogan's government has dismantled restrictions on hijabs in Turkey.
Baku's move sparked protests at home and drew criticism from Erdogan's Islamist-rooted ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), including presidential adviser Oktay Saral, who demanded that Azerbaijan reverse the restrictions.
