Türkiye & Azerbaijan
In Türkiye, a dress rule issued after the 1980 coup kept headscarf-wearing women out of public jobs for about 31 years, until 2013. The military's 28 February 1997 decisions shut the middle sections of İmam Hatip schools, led to the closure of the Welfare Party, and brought a strict headscarf ban to universities, where students were pressed in 'persuasion rooms' to uncover. In Azerbaijan the state controls all mosques through the Caucasian Muslim Board, has closed Baku's Sunni mosques and banned the hijab for schoolgirls in 2010. In November 2015 police raided Nardaran during prayers, killing five villagers; 18 Shia men were later jailed for up to 20 years after a trial marred by torture claims. Muslims are still fined for praying together at home.
Key numbers
Who is responsible
Türkiye: the 1980 military junta's government, the General Staff and National Security Council in 1997, the Constitutional Court, YÖK and university rectors. Azerbaijan: the government of President Ilham Aliyev, the State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations, police and the State Security Service, the Ministry of Education.
Timeline
- 1982 Türkiye: public-sector dress rule bars headscarves at work.
- 1997 Türkiye: 28 February decisions; İmam Hatip middle schools closed; university ban tightened.
- 1998 Türkiye: Welfare Party closed; 'persuasion rooms' at Istanbul University.
- 1999 Türkiye: MP Merve Kavakçı expelled from parliament and stripped of citizenship.
- 2010 Azerbaijan bans the hijab for schoolgirls.
- 2013 Türkiye lifts the headscarf ban in most public offices.
- 2015 Azerbaijan: Nardaran raid during prayers.
- 2016 Azerbaijan: Baku's Lezgin Mosque and Qobustan Sunni mosque closed.
- 2017 Azerbaijan: 18 Nardaran men jailed for 10–20 years.
Records (16)
Headscarf ban in Turkish public institutions
After the 12 September 1980 coup, a dress regulation for public employees required women's heads to be uncovered, so women could not work in public institutions with a headscarf; the education ministry and the Higher Education Council issued similar circulars. The rule stayed in force about 31 years, until it was lifted for most public employees on 8 October 2013 (police, judges, prosecutors and the military excepted).
Source: Al Jazeera Türk: Türkiye'de başörtüsü yasağı: Nasıl başladı, nasıl çözüldü? (archived) · Euronews Türkçe: Türkiye'de kamuda başörtüsü yasağı resmen kalktı (archived)
University headscarf ban and 'persuasion rooms'
A strict headscarf ban was enforced in Turkish universities from 1997 after military pressure. At Istanbul University it began with the rector's circular of 23 February 1998: thousands of students met security teams at the gates and were pressed in 'persuasion rooms' to uncover; those who refused faced cases and had to leave university. After a change at the head of YÖK in 2007, an instruction to rectors ended the ban in practice.
Source: Al Jazeera Türk: Türkiye'de başörtüsü yasağı: Nasıl başladı, nasıl çözüldü? (archived) · BBC: Turkey eases ban on headscarves · Wikipedia: Headscarf controversy in Turkey
28 February 1997 'postmodern coup'
At a nine-hour National Security Council meeting on 28 February 1997 the military set out 18 measures against 'irtica' (religious reaction), including eight-year compulsory schooling that closed the middle sections of İmam Hatip schools, and placing all Quran courses under the Diyanet. Sanctions on headscarf-wearing women in public institutions became the most strictly applied measure.
Source: Al Jazeera Türk: Kronoloji: 28 Şubat'a giden yol (archived) · Al Jazeera Türk: Türkiye'de başörtüsü yasağı: Nasıl başladı, nasıl çözüldü? (archived)
Welfare Party closed
After a case opened on 21 May 1997 claiming the governing Welfare Party was a focus of anti-secular activity, the Constitutional Court closed it on 16 January 1998 and banned Necmettin Erbakan and five other party figures from politics for five years; headscarf-related statements were among the grounds.
Source: Al Jazeera Türk: Kronoloji: 28 Şubat'a giden yol (archived)
MP Merve Kavakçı barred for her headscarf
On 2 May 1999 Merve Kavakçı, newly elected Virtue Party MP for Istanbul, entered parliament in a headscarf; DSP deputies protested by banging desks and booing, and Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit said 'put this woman in her place'. She was then stripped of Turkish citizenship by cabinet decision and later given a travel ban.
Source: Dünya Bülteni: 14 yıl önce Mecliste yaşanan başörtüsü krizi (archived)
Students forced out by the headscarf ban
A scholar with the Istanbul women's rights group AKDER estimated that about 270,000 of the 677,000 students expelled from higher education between 2000 and 2007 were victims of the headscarf ban; HRW in 2005 put the number of women kept out of higher education in the thousands.
European court upholds Turkey's ban (Leyla Şahin)
On 10 November 2005 the European Court of Human Rights upheld Turkey's ban on headscarves in universities in the case of Leyla Şahin, excluded from class at Istanbul University; more than 1,000 other Turkish women had filed similar applications.
Constitutional Court keeps the university ban
Parliament voted 403–107 on 9 February 2008 to ease the university headscarf ban, but on 5 June 2008 the Constitutional Court annulled the change as against secular principles, keeping the ban.
Source: BBC: Court annuls Turkish scarf reform · BBC: Turkey eases ban on headscarves
Hijab ban for schoolgirls
In December 2010 Azerbaijan's education minister Misir Mardanov announced a school dress code banning Islamic headscarves for schoolgirls. Protests followed in Baku and Nardaran, and RFE/RL reported that hundreds of girls may have stopped going to school.
Source: Los Angeles Times blog: Azerbaijan hijab ban for schoolgirls (archived)
Nardaran raid during prayers
On 26 November 2015 the authorities raided the Shia village of Nardaran, firing weapons during prayers. Officials said at least seven people were killed, five men in the village and two police officers; 14 Muslim Unity Movement members, including Imam Taleh Bagirov, were detained.
5 killed
Source: Forum 18: Police killings, shooting and mass arrests as Muslims pray · Forum 18: Azerbaijan religious freedom survey, November 2018
Baku's Sunni mosques closed
On 25 July 2016 a police officer ordered the Sunni Lezgin Mosque and a Shia mosque in Baku's Old City closed for 'repairs'. By 2018 Forum 18 reported that all of Baku's Sunni mosques, including the Lezgin, Abu Bekr and Martyrs' (Turkish) mosques, had been closed; most mosques closed or demolished by the authorities have been Sunni.
Source: Forum 18: Mosques ordered to close for 'repairs' · Forum 18: Azerbaijan religious freedom survey, November 2018
Omar bin Khattab mosque in Qobustan closed
On 29 July 2016 police and State Security Service officers, on State Committee orders, forcibly closed the Sunni Omar bin Khattab mosque in Qobustan on Baku's southern edge; its leader was fined more than three months' wages.
Source: Forum 18: Police, officials close Sunni home mosques
Nardaran case prison sentences
On 25 January 2017 the Baku Serious Crimes Court sentenced 18 men of the Shia Muslim Unity Movement to 10–20 years after a trial Amnesty said was marred by torture allegations; leader Taleh Bagirzade and deputy Abbas Huseynov got 20 years.
18 detained
Source: Amnesty International: Azerbaijan: Torture and travesty of justice in Nardaran case · Forum 18: Azerbaijan religious freedom survey, November 2018
Arrests of Shia preachers
In October 2021 the State Security Service arrested Shia imam Sardar Babayev, a former prisoner of conscience, on treason charges, together with six other Shia preachers who were later freed. A Baku mosque closed by police in October 2021 remained closed.
7 detained
Source: Forum 18: Imam's pre-trial imprisonment extended in treason case
Muharram ceremonies restricted
At the start of Muharram on 26 June 2025 the Interior Ministry and State Committee ordered that religious ceremonies be held only in mosques and shrines and banned parents from bringing children; mosques backed by police practically barred Shia Muslims from commemorating Ashura on 6 July.
Fines for praying together at home
Between January and mid-September 2026 Forum 18 recorded 57 administrative prosecutions for unapproved religious meetings, almost all of Muslims, such as eight Muslims fined two months' wages in Baku's Binagadi District for meeting in a private house.
Source: Forum 18: More than 50 prosecutions in 2026 for unapproved religious meetings