Erbakan’s son embarrasses Türkiye: Are there even Muslims in Armenia?

A campaign targeting Azerbaijan over the issue of the alleged “hijab ban” in Türkiye has promoted the claim that “wearing a headscarf is allowed in Armenian schools, but banned in Azerbaijan”.

TodayPress TV reports that political analyst Asif Narimanli made the remarks.

He said that if such a claim had been voiced by an ordinary Turkish citizen, it might not have warranted serious discussion. The problem, he noted, is that the claim is being promoted by figures from Türkiye’s political circles, media and expert community.

“Finally, Fatih Erbakan, son of the late Necmettin Erbakan and chairman of the New Welfare Party, also presented this as an intelligent observation: ‘A friend researched it and brought it to me; even in schools in Armenia, headscarves are allowed.’

“If they had not researched the issue, one could have told them to go and look into it. The problem, however, is that even after conducting research, they still claim that ‘hijab is allowed in Armenian schools’. This is precisely the affliction that the late İlber Ortaylı described in Turkish society as ignorance.

“One might think that, as part of a propaganda campaign, they are spreading all kinds of claims without recognising any limits. But even ignorance must have its limits.

“Is there a Muslim population in Armenia that would make it meaningful to talk about the freedom to wear a hijab? When the country has virtually no Muslim community, how can there be talk of a hijab ban?

“The last Muslim population living in Armenia consisted of Azerbaijanis. The last of them were expelled from Amasia in early 1989. Before that, Azerbaijanis living in Yerevan and other regions had also been driven from their homes. In 1988–1989, more than 250,000 Azerbaijanis were deported from their ancestral lands. This was the final stage of deportations that had begun at the start of the 20th century.”

The political analyst also recalled that Armenia had not limited itself to expelling Azerbaijanis from their homes, but had also destroyed their Islamic heritage. According to him, nearly 500 mosques were destroyed. Today, the Blue Mosque in Yerevan is the only surviving example of Armenia’s Islamic heritage.

However, he argued that the mosque had not been preserved out of respect for Islam. He claimed that its continued existence was linked to an effort, alongside Iran, to falsify Azerbaijan’s historical heritage and create a narrative of “Persian heritage in Yerevan”. He added that nobody worships at the mosque because there are virtually no Muslims in the country.

“According to 2025 statistics, fewer than 1,000 Muslims are registered in Armenia. Most of them are tourists, people temporarily staying in the country for work, and embassy staff. Not only are Muslims scarce in Armenia, but the non-Armenian population in general is also very small. Armenians account for 99% of the population, while the remaining 1% includes Yezidi Kurds, one of the country’s largest ethnic minorities, as well as Russians, Georgians and Ukrainians. Even their freedom of religious belief is not fully guaranteed in practice.

“When some Turkish politicians present Armenia as a model for Azerbaijan, it demonstrates not only a biased position but also a profound lack of knowledge. The fact that people who aspire to govern Türkiye and establish a caliphate in the Islamic world can be so far removed from the truth on such basic matters raises further questions,” Asif Narimanli concluded.

Giymat Mahir