13.10.2026 17:21
Within the scope of the dress codes implemented in state schools in Azerbaijan, headscarved students and teachers were banned from entering schools. As the repercussions of the incident continue, a statement came from CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu: "Turkey went through a very difficult test regarding the headscarf. We also had a responsibility here. As a person who assumes this responsibility, I call out to Azerbaijan: Let women be free; let them choose the clothes they want."
In Azerbaijan, the crisis and protests that began with the banning of headscarved students and teachers from entering schools under dress codes applied in public schools continue. One of the clearest political reactions from Turkey on the issue came from CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
“TURKEY PASSED A HEAVY TEST”
Speaking at his party’s group meeting, Kılıçdaroğlu referred to similar processes Turkey experienced in the past and emphasized reconciliation and responsibility. In his speech addressing Azerbaijan, Kılıçdaroğlu used the following statements: “My Azerbaijani brothers, Turkey passed a very heavy test on the headscarf issue. We also had responsibility here. As a person who assumed this responsibility, I call on Azerbaijan: Let women be free, let them choose the clothing they want.”
Highlights from Kılıçdaroğlu’s statements;
“103 years, the 103rd anniversary of Ankara becoming the capital. The late Malatya MP İsmet İnönü was given his certificate of election on October 10, 1923, and at the second session of the Assembly, Ankara’s becoming the capital was accepted. We are proud of our Ankara and the people of Ankara.
Mining disaster. It is also the anniversary of the Amasya disaster. 43 miners lost their lives. I know that pain; I visited their families. Those people are not experts, and unfortunately such accidents happen as a result of the precautions taken by others.
CALL FOR AN ECONOMIC MOVE FOR THE EAST AND SOUTHEAST
We want to live in peace. We are citizens of the same country. We must struggle together. There is no place for discrimination. Let there be no place for terrorism, and let us live in peace in this country. The heart of the CHP beats in the East and the Southeast. I want you to know this.
Draw a natural gas line to Cizre’s Organized Industrial Zone, grow it. It will be Turkey’s bright face. It will create employment. The Nusaybin Border Gate has been closed for 14 years; they are waiting. It wants the border gate to open. It is extremely important for Mardin, Cizre, Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa, and Batman.
A girl came and said, “I want to go to school but the roads are very bad.” I want to convey it to the minister. That girl wants to study. She wants to have a say in Turkey’s future.
“JOURNALISTS SHOULD NOT BE ARRESTED, THERE SHOULD BE NO HOUSE ARREST”
I am the person who is subjected to the harshest and most unfair criticism in the media. They exaggerate events. But no matter what, I did not want a journalist to be arrested.
Journalists are people who work 24 hours a day on behalf of citizens so the country can receive news. We do not claim that all of them necessarily do it right, but the media must be able to bring out its own actors. If it cannot, it loses its respectability.
But no matter what, they should not be arrested and house arrest should not apply to them. If a journalist is arrested, democracy is damaged there. They are laborers.
AGRICULTURE, JUDICIARY, AND MAYORS WHO SWITCHED TO THE AK PARTY
“The name of the party that will support you is the Republican People’s Party. You just ask for your rights, my farmer brother. Encouraging you is our duty. Do not turn your back on your field, do not turn your back on your soil. Seek your rights; I will walk at the forefront.
We will cleanse Turkey and politics of filth. A dirty and dubious man has no business in the CHP.
The closure of the Amasya Sugar Factory will have a negative impact on the 4 provinces I listed. Let us do our duty. If they solve it, I will thank them. If they do not, let us do whatever is necessary.
We all need justice. Justice is the foundation of the world. We must defend justice. It is the judiciary, namely judges, who will ensure justice is served. A judge must be independent. If a judge has become politicized, there is no conscientious conviction in him.
Our people have a strong common sense. Silent but determined. They give their decision and observation in their own place.
Mayors who transferred to the AK Party. For one thing, I do not know how these people were appointed or elected, but I do not want to insult artificial intelligence either.
We have no right to slander artificial intelligence anyway. But my brother, he is elected from the CHP. In this way, he gets the votes of CHP members.
How does he suddenly transfer to the other side? How is it that a mayor who said many things until yesterday, who went door to door saying, “Please do not vote for these people,” transfers overnight?
These mayors have a problem with a sense of shame. They have a moral problem. I say it very clearly.
You will get the CHP’s votes, you will get the people’s votes, and you will steal. It doesn’t work. An honorable and moral mayor does not betray his voters. He engages in corruption, takes the goods, and seeks refuge.
7 GOLDEN PRINCIPLES FOR CHP MAYORS
On July 26, 2019, at the mayors’ meeting, I mentioned 7 principles. All CHP mayors will definitely comply with the 7 principles. You will hang them on your wall, you will read them once a month. Here are those articles:
- In the municipality you govern, you will not marginalize your fellow citizens; you will embrace everyone.
- You will produce services not for certain individuals, groups, relatives, or supporters, but for the people. You will not forget that it is the people of that district who brought you.
- Make positive discrimination for poor neighborhoods.
- While helping the poor, protect human dignity. Never expose them. The left hand will not see what the right hand gives.
- Make your expenditures and investments within financial discipline. Inform the district residents and the public of budget use at certain intervals.
- Absolutely comply with the merit principle in administrative appointments. Consider the rule of giving the job to the competent person in every appointment.
- Govern municipalities with justice. Defend rights, law, and justice in every environment.
SOLUTION PROCESS AND HEADSCARF BAN IN AZERBAIJAN
Let me ask one more question. Did Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya testify as a suspect, and why did she testify?
My esteemed friends, winter months have come. We now want there to be peace. We want to be together. We went through a solution process. Its beginning went well.
As the CHP, we defended it everywhere and in every environment. Whoever owns these lands, whoever toils, whatever their identity, belief, or lifestyle, we want to live in peace and tranquility. For this reason, we provided information in parliament and this must be resolved as soon as possible.
If there is a duty falling to us on this issue, we are ready to remove that blockage as well.
We want to grow economically, culturally, and socially and to have a say in the world. We want to do this. What Mustafa Kemal Atatürk said for the Turkish Republic stands fresh in the deepest part of our memory. As the CHP, we are a party born from its ashes.
We are like a phoenix. The silencing of weapons is not enough for peace. The law must begin to speak. We need new joys, not new pains.
I also want to address our Azerbaijani brothers. Your pain is our pain. The headscarf incident is happening and we watch, we read. It is not right for women to be separated based on whether their heads are uncovered or covered. Turkey passed a very heavy test here. Leave women alone; let them choose the clothing they want.
The guarantee of secularism is not the woman's headscarf; it is human rights and democracy.
Only the Almighty Creator knows who is a believer and who is not. No one should exercise an authority not granted to the Prophet; no one can exercise it. "
.