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AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT ALIYEV WINS THIRD 5-YEAR TERM BY A LANDSLIDE
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Oct 10 2013
10 October 2013 /REUTERS, AP, BAKU
Azerbaijan's president won a third five-year term by a landslide in
Wednesday's election, according to preliminary results, extending a
decade of rule in the oil-rich Caspian Sea nation allied with the West.
With 72 percent of precincts counted, Ilham Aliyev was leading the
field with nearly 85 percent of the vote, said the Central Election
Commission chief, Mazahir Panahov.
The main opposition candidate, historian Jamil Hasanli, had about
5 percent of the vote, followed by eight other contenders. Full
preliminary results are expected later on Thursday.
Exit polls have earlier shown similar figures, prompting Aliyev's
campaign chief, Ali Ahmadov, to quickly claim victory. "Ilham Aliyev
has unconditional support of the population," Ahmadov said.
Aliyev has ruled the ex-Soviet nation of 9 million since 2003,
succeeding his father, Heydar Aliyev, who had been at the helm for
most of the previous three decades, first as Azerbaijan's Communist
Party boss during the Soviet times, then as its president.
The current president has presented himself as a guarantor of
stability, an image with broad appeal in a nation where painful
memories are still fresh of the years of turmoil that accompanied
the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.
A six-year war with neighboring Armenia over the disputed territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh left ethnic Armenian forces in control of
Nagorno-Karabakh and neighboring areas in Azerbaijan and turned 1
million Azerbaijanis into refugees.
Under Aliyev, Azerbaijan has basked in oil riches that have more
than tripled its GDP and helped bolster his popularity. The State Oil
Fund that accumulates oil revenues held $34 billion at the start of
the year.
After hearing the exit poll data, hundreds of Aliyev's supporters
carrying national flags and pictures of the president took to the
streets, some dancing to popular music. Motorists and bikers drove
around the city, waving Azerbaijani flags and honking horns.
"We all are very happy and think that Azerbaijan in the coming five
years will continue to prosper and will become the best country in
the world," Baku resident Samira Guliyeva said.
"I am grateful to the Azeri people for voting for me and putting their
trust in me and the future development of the country," said Aliyev,
speaking on state television.
Azerbaijan's oil boom, the product of a BP-led consortium that
exports Caspian Sea oil to ships in the Mediterranean Sea, raised
living standards and boosted the mainly Muslim country's clout to
court Western powers.
Azerbaijan has also boosted its arms budget and the amount of money
it spends on defense is higher than the GDP of its regional rival
Armenia, with whom tensions are still simmering.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-328645-azerbaijani-president-aliyev-wins-third-5-year-term-by-a-landslide.html
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Oct 10 2013
10 October 2013 /REUTERS, AP, BAKU
Azerbaijan's president won a third five-year term by a landslide in
Wednesday's election, according to preliminary results, extending a
decade of rule in the oil-rich Caspian Sea nation allied with the West.
With 72 percent of precincts counted, Ilham Aliyev was leading the
field with nearly 85 percent of the vote, said the Central Election
Commission chief, Mazahir Panahov.
The main opposition candidate, historian Jamil Hasanli, had about
5 percent of the vote, followed by eight other contenders. Full
preliminary results are expected later on Thursday.
Exit polls have earlier shown similar figures, prompting Aliyev's
campaign chief, Ali Ahmadov, to quickly claim victory. "Ilham Aliyev
has unconditional support of the population," Ahmadov said.
Aliyev has ruled the ex-Soviet nation of 9 million since 2003,
succeeding his father, Heydar Aliyev, who had been at the helm for
most of the previous three decades, first as Azerbaijan's Communist
Party boss during the Soviet times, then as its president.
The current president has presented himself as a guarantor of
stability, an image with broad appeal in a nation where painful
memories are still fresh of the years of turmoil that accompanied
the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.
A six-year war with neighboring Armenia over the disputed territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh left ethnic Armenian forces in control of
Nagorno-Karabakh and neighboring areas in Azerbaijan and turned 1
million Azerbaijanis into refugees.
Under Aliyev, Azerbaijan has basked in oil riches that have more
than tripled its GDP and helped bolster his popularity. The State Oil
Fund that accumulates oil revenues held $34 billion at the start of
the year.
After hearing the exit poll data, hundreds of Aliyev's supporters
carrying national flags and pictures of the president took to the
streets, some dancing to popular music. Motorists and bikers drove
around the city, waving Azerbaijani flags and honking horns.
"We all are very happy and think that Azerbaijan in the coming five
years will continue to prosper and will become the best country in
the world," Baku resident Samira Guliyeva said.
"I am grateful to the Azeri people for voting for me and putting their
trust in me and the future development of the country," said Aliyev,
speaking on state television.
Azerbaijan's oil boom, the product of a BP-led consortium that
exports Caspian Sea oil to ships in the Mediterranean Sea, raised
living standards and boosted the mainly Muslim country's clout to
court Western powers.
Azerbaijan has also boosted its arms budget and the amount of money
it spends on defense is higher than the GDP of its regional rival
Armenia, with whom tensions are still simmering.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-328645-azerbaijani-president-aliyev-wins-third-5-year-term-by-a-landslide.html