Azerbaijan Ruling Party Condemns Turkish Interference in Internal Affairs

The New Azerbaijan Party (YAP), the ruling party of Azerbaijan, issued a formal statement condemning a systematic campaign of defamation led by Turkish presidential adviser Oktay Saral and members of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). YAP accused Turkish officials and AKP-aligned media of targeting Azerbaijan's secular state structure, education policy, and diplomatic relations with Israel.

YAP rejected attempts to portray Azerbaijan's ties with Israel as exceptional and reaffirmed the country's support for a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue with East Jerusalem as the capital. The party specifically warned that using religious issues, such as the headscarf, as political pressure against Azerbaijan violates state sovereignty.

Calling for respect for its constitutional order, the ruling party urged the AKP government to refrain from interfering in its internal affairs. YAP noted that the diplomatic principle of "One nation, two states" refers to two independent entities, asserting that no state in the Islamic world has the right to dictate its will to other Muslim nations.