An antisemitic online campaign targeting Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has emerged in recent days amid protests over restrictions on wearing the hijab in schools. The campaign portrays Aliyev as an enemy of Islam and a puppet of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to assessments, actors in Turkey, Iran and Russia may be behind the campaign.
Tensions within Azerbaijan erupted last month after the government in Baku introduced new regulations prohibiting students from attending school in clothing that violates official uniform requirements or is deemed incompatible with the secular character of public education. The regulations did not explicitly mention the hijab, but reports subsequently emerged that students and teachers wearing Islamic headscarves were being denied entry to schools.
Aliyev portrayed on Netanyahu's leash in a cartoon linking the Azerbaijani president to Israel and the hijab controversy
Although the controversy over the hijab restrictions is primarily a domestic Azerbaijani issue, conspiracy theories have begun circulating online in recent days claiming that Azerbaijan's close relationship with Israel was among the reasons authorities introduced the measures.
Alongside these claims, cartoons mocking Aliyev have spread across social media, employing classic antisemitic stereotypes, including an exaggerated long nose. The illustrations depict the Azerbaijani president as doing Netanyahu's bidding and seeking to undermine Islam. In one cartoon, Aliyev is shown kneeling on the ground, attached to a leash held by the Israeli prime minister.
Another illustration circulated as part of the online campaign against Azerbaijan's president
According to the assessments cited in the report, Turkish, Iranian and Russian actors are suspected of involvement in the campaign. Turkey is widely regarded as Azerbaijan's most important ally, but figures within President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have criticized the school dress-code restrictions.
Officials in Baku were also displeased by remarks Erdogan made at the United Nations General Assembly last month, when he condemned school headscarf bans as violations of women's fundamental rights. Although Erdogan did not name any particular country, his remarks were interpreted in Azerbaijan as a criticism of Baku's policies.
Relations between Iran and Azerbaijan have been strained for decades, partly because of the close ties between Jerusalem and Baku. Iranian officials have repeatedly alleged that Israel uses Azerbaijani territory to conduct operations against Iran. Sources familiar with the issue said the hijab controversy presents another opportunity for Iranian actors to criticize Azerbaijan's relationship with Israel and portray it as hostile to Islam.
Russia is the third country whose actors are suspected of involvement in the online campaign. Relations between Moscow and Baku have been strained by Azerbaijan's ambitions to become a regional power in the Caucasus and by its neutral position on the war in Ukraine. According to the assessments, Russia has an interest in weakening Aliyev's domestic standing, partly to limit his room for maneuver on the international stage.