Ilham Aliyev reelected as Azerbaijan’s president

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - Ilham Aliyev has been reelected as Azerbaijani president for the fourth time, according to the preliminary results.

In a news conference on late Wednesday, Mazahir Panahov, the head of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan, announced that Aliyev received 86.09 percent votes in the elections.

Panahov noted that the voter turnout in the election was 74.51 percent.

Addressing the nation, Aliyev said: “In this election, the people of Azerbaijan voted for stability, security, development, prosperity, and highly appreciated what has been done over the past 15 years. We have achieved this success together with you.”

“There is not a second country that has developed economically as much as Azerbaijan has in the past 15 years,” Aliyev underlined.

The total of 125 regional polling centers were mobilized in the country to serve the people during the presidential election on Wednesday, according to Information Center of the CEC.

The commission received protocols from 5,201 polling stations, which made 92 percent of the total number of polling stations across the country, according to state news agency AzerTac.

After 3.7 million valid votes were counted, the preliminary results showed 86 percent or nearly 3.2 million votes were in favor of Ilham Aliyev, the agency quoted Panahov as saying.

Following the announcement of results, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated Aliyev in a phone call on April 11.

“The Turkish President congratulated President Ilham Aliyev on his landslide victory in the presidential election, and wished him new successes in his presidential activities for the prosperity of the people of Azerbaijan,” according to a press release issued by Azerbaijan’s presidency.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim also extended “sincere congratulations” to Aliyev.

“We are pleased that this election, which reflects the will of the friendly and brotherly people of Azerbaijan, was held in an atmosphere of transparency and confidence,” Yildirim said.

On Oct. 15, 2003, Ilham Aliyev was elected as the president receiving more than 76 percent of votes, according to presidential source.

He was reelected for the second five-year term, with 88.73 percent of votes in 2008 and for the third period in 2013 with 84.54 percent of votes.

In a constitutional referendum held on Sept. 26, 2016, the tenure for president was increased from five to seven years.