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The transnational political firestorm over Azerbaijan’s school hijab ban has produced an extraordinary spat between the governments of Azerbaijan and Turkey, culminating in lurid allegations of Turkish coup-plotting in Azerbaijani state-backed media. These two states have proclaimed themselves the closest of allies—“two states, one nation,” as the popular saying goes. Yet their strong bilateral ties are relatively recent and widely misunderstood. The two countries’ intimacy has created increasing friction as Azerbaijani leaders realize that Turkey’s governing elite view Azerbaijan as less than a co-equal sovereign state.

The current round of tensions began on Sept. 21, when the Azerbaijani government approved a more restrictive protocol on school uniforms that effectively banned students from wearing the hijab in the country’s state schools. Two days later, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Justice and Development Party (AKP) ended Turkey’s own headscarf ban, condemned headscarf bans—without naming Azerbaijan specifically—as an attack on women’s fundamental freedoms during his speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

The transnational political firestorm over Azerbaijan’s school hijab ban has produced an extraordinary spat between the governments of Azerbaijan and Turkey, culminating in lurid allegations of Turkish coup-plotting in Azerbaijani state-backed media. These two states have proclaimed themselves the closest of allies—“two states, one nation,” as the popular saying goes. Yet their strong bilateral ties are relatively recent and widely misunderstood. The two countries’ intimacy has created increasing friction as Azerbaijani leaders realize that Turkey’s governing elite view Azerbaijan as less than a co-equal sovereign state.

The current round of tensions began on Sept. 21, when the Azerbaijani government approved a more restrictive protocol on school uniforms that effectively banned students from wearing the hijab in the country’s state schools. Two days later, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Justice and Development Party (AKP) ended Turkey’s own headscarf ban, condemned headscarf bans—without naming Azerbaijan specifically—as an attack on women’s fundamental freedoms during his speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

Within Azerbaijan, rare unsanctioned demonstrations took place following the order’s implementation on Oct. 12. While arrests and internet restrictions curtailed them, small protests, bringing together both religious people and secular left-liberals, have continued.

At the same time, what began as veiled barbs and grumbling from Turkey’s ruling AKP has now burst into a stream of condemnation. On Oct. 12, Oktay Saral, chief advisor to Erdogan, and Leyla Sahin Usta, a deputy parliamentary leader for the AKP, expressed their outrage over the Azerbaijani policy in posts on X. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Erdogan themselves have made passive-aggressive comments while stopping short of any explicit criticism.

But the rift goes beyond the hijab. Notably, the recent tensions coincided with Israeli........

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