Azerbaijan president targeted by antisemitic campaign amid hijab restriction controversy

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has become the target of an antisemitic online campaign portraying him as a servant of Israel and an enemy of Islam.

The campaign comes amid protests over restrictions on wearing the hijab in schools in the Muslim-majority country, which maintains close ties with Israel and the West.

Initial assessments cited in Israeli media reports suggest that foreign actors, including Iran, Turkey and Russia, may be behind the campaign.

The controversy began last month when Azerbaijan introduced new school dress-code rules. Although the regulations did not specifically mention the hijab, some students and teachers wearing Muslim headscarves say they were refused entry to schools.

While the dress code dispute is primarily a domestic issue, the online campaign has exploited Azerbaijan’s close relations with Israel to portray Aliyev as serving Jewish interests.

One antisemitic cartoon shows Aliyev wearing a Jewish skullcap with an exaggerated nose.

Another depicts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holding the Azerbaijani president on a leash as he kneels and barks at female students wearing Muslim headscarves.

Azerbaijan maintains a complex relationship with neighboring Turkey, which is one of its main regional allies. However, officials from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) have blasted Azerbaijan’s school dress-code restrictions. During his speech at the United Nations last month, Erdoğan publicly condemned the restrictions on headscarves in Azerbaijan, arguing that they violated women’s fundamental rights.

Erdoğan’s remarks were not well received in Azerbaijan, where government officials viewed them as Turkish interference in the country’s domestic affairs. Turkey also criticized Azerbaijan for not boycotting Netanyahu’s UN General Assembly speech in New York last month.

Meanwhile, tensions between Azerbaijan and the Iranian regime have grown amid threats from the Iranian regime. Tehran has sought to undermine close ties with Israel. In March, Azerbaijan thwarted an alleged Iranian terror plot targeting local Azerbaijani Jews and the Israeli embassy in Baku.

Russia is also suspected of involvement in the online campaign, amid tensions over Azerbaijan’s regional ambitions and its neutral stance on the war in Ukraine. Moscow may seek to weaken Aliyev’s domestic standing and limit his international influence.

Despite regional tensions, Azerbaijan has maintained close ties with Israel. Israeli and Jewish officials have praised the country for promoting tolerance toward Jews and other minorities. It has also attracted growing numbers of Israeli tourists. According to the Azerbaijan Tourism Board, Israeli tourism to Azerbaijan increased by 139% in 2025.

“Israeli travelers also feel that Azerbaijanis have a big passion for Israel and for Israelis, and this does not come overnight: this comes over hundreds of years. This culture has been part of Azerbaijani daily life,” Tourism Board CEO Florian Sengstschmid told The Jerusalem Post last February.