"Its not normal for schoolgirls to wear hijabs in Azerbaijan"

"There is no need to create tensions around the issue of wearing hijab in secondary schools. Some people even say that I am not a faithful man," Education Minister Misir Mardanov said.

"Azerbaijan is a secular state. This issue was unequivocally mentioned in the education law”, said Mardanov.

The minister stressed that this is not normal for schoolgirls to wear hijabs. “What does it mean for 16-year old schoolgirl to wear hijab? They can wear everything outside the school, but school has its own rules”.

Mardanov said it is approved decision that the schoolchildren have to wear uniforms. “I don’t see anything strange. This is not a move away from Islam. All of us believe in Allah. Quran-i-Karim is our table book. We have to observe the religious faiths. It is not against Islam to observe the rules of school”.

Mardanov said he has not expressed any opinion on wearing hijabs at high schools.


/APA/