Azerbaijan ruling party wins polls

BAKU

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev's party has won snap parliamentary elections, the poll commission announced Monday.

Aliyev had called Sunday's snap legislative election ahead of schedule to avoid the poll coinciding with the COP29 climate conference that Baku is to host on November 11-22.

The electoral commission said Aliyev's Yeni Azerbaijan party won 68 seats in the 125-member legislature.

Another 45 seats were won by independent candidates as well as 12 seats by candidates from nine political parties — all of them widely believed to be pro-government.

Only one opposition candidate from the Republican Alternative Party made it to parliament.

The opposition Musavat party said there were "mass violations," including multiple voting.

International observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe are set to hold a press conference later Monday to present their findings following the vote.

Aliyev, 62, has ruled the ex-Soviet republic since 2003, after the death of his father, Azerbaijan's Soviet-era Communist leader and former KGB general Heydar Aliyev.

He enjoys widespread popularity due to Azerbaijan's military victory over Armenian separatist forces that had controlled the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh region for three decades.

Message from Türkiye

The Turkish Foreign Ministry expressed its sincere hope on Monday that the parliamentary elections would be "auspicious" for the brotherly nation.

This election marks the first time in 30 years that parliamentary elections were held across all of Azerbaijan’s territories, including regions newly liberated from Armenian occupation.

The ministry highlighted in a statement the significance of the elections, describing them as historic.

"We consider these parliamentary elections as historic, as they were held in the entire country, including the territories that were liberated from occupation," the ministry stated.

“We firmly believe that the results will contribute significantly to the establishment of lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus,” it added.