Binali Yıldırım: “Who dares interfere in Azerbaijan’s internal affairs?”

Binali Yıldırım, chairman of the Organization of Turkic States’ Council of Elders, sharply rejected attempts to interfere in Azerbaijan’s internal affairs amid a debate over the treatment of headscarf-wearing students in Azerbaijani schools, saying Türkiye must respect Baku’s decisions.

Binali Yıldırım, chairman of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) Council of Elders, addressed the debate in Türkiye sparked by claims that students wearing headscarves were being turned away from schools in Azerbaijan, in an interview with Azerbaijani journalist Ali Valiyev.

Stressing that Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and internal affairs must be respected, Yıldırım said: “Who dares interfere in Azerbaijan’s internal affairs? We will punish anyone who attempts or dares to do so in the harshest way.”

“It makes its own decisions”

President Erdoğan receiving the OTS Council of Elders (file photo)

“Azerbaijan is a separate state. It makes its own decisions. Our duty is to show due respect for those decisions,” Yıldırım said, adding that relations between the two countries are based on mutual respect and that such ill-intentioned efforts cannot be tolerated.

The practice in Azerbaijan has sparked debate in Türkiye in recent days. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also said in Baku that differing approaches may arise from time to time but should not be used in a way that erodes ties between the two countries.