ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq’s higher education ministry on Wednesday invited female students from Azerbaijan who wear the hijab to study at Iraqi universities after Baku moved to enforce restrictions on school uniforms.

In a statement, the ministry said it approved “an invitation for Azerbaijani female students who wear the hijab to pursue their studies at Iraqi universities, through established admission channels and the 'Study in Iraq' initiative, including the full-scholarship program."

The decision followed a meeting of the ministry’s Advisory Board, chaired by Higher Education Minister Haider Bahaa al-Hasani and attended by presidents of public universities.

The Advisory Board further voted to organize a “peaceful protest” at universities on Thursday in response to a call by influential Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr and “in opposition to the ban on the hijab in educational institutions in Azerbaijan.”

“The protest is to be limited to a few minutes so as not to disrupt the academic curriculum, and no images or flags—other than the Iraqi flag—are to be displayed,” the statement added.

In a lengthy statement on Wednesday, Sadr defended the headscarf as “more than just a piece of fabric,” saying it “represents modesty, chastity, sincerity, and obedience.”

“Abandoning it can facilitate the spread of indecency and vice,” Sadr said, explicitly condemning Azerbaijan and France and accusing them of “attempting to suppress Islamic foundations.”

Baku last month issued a decree barring additions to school uniforms deemed incompatible with secular education. While the decision did not explicitly mention the hijab, reports have emerged of veiled students being turned away from education.

The new restrictions have also inflamed tensions between Azerbaijan and neighboring Turkey, two traditionally close allies. 

On Wednesday, AFP news agency reported that Baku banned 31 Turkish nationals, including a lawmaker from Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), from entering the country.

The Azerbaijani foreign ministry accused them of calling “for the violent overthrow of the government, as well as violence motivated by religious radicalism and the incitement of religious hatred and hostility.”

Azerbaijan, a former Soviet state, is a majority Shiite Muslim country and has emerged as one of the most secular states in the Islamic world.