Some countries should learn from Azerbaijan - Turkish observation mission

By Trend

Members of the observation mission of the Turkish Grand National Assembly have released the final conclusion on the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan held on Feb. 9, Trend reports.

At the event held following the results of observations in the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, Samil Ayrim, member of the observation mission of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, head of the Turkey-Azerbaijan Interparliamentary Friendship Group, congratulated the Azerbaijani people on the successful elections.

Ayrim added that by voting for their candidates, the people made their choice.

“I congratulate the winning candidates,” the mission member said. “At the same time, I congratulate all the other candidates for their courage.”

Turkish MP Orhan Erdem said that on the election day, observers were divided into two groups and monitored the voting process in Baku and Sumgayit cities.

Noting that decent youth is growing in Azerbaijan, the Turkish MP expressed satisfaction with the great number of young candidates.

In turn, Yunus Kilic, the member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, noted that observers from Turkey have always taken an active part in elections at various levels in Azerbaijan.

Kilic noted that a great number of candidates, the participation of almost 20 political parties suggest that the elections were held in conditions of objective competition.

“The presence of webcams at the polling stations, the conditions created for observers, the organization of the voting process at a high level are very impressive,” the Turkish MP said. “The fact that Azerbaijan invited a great number of international observers actually shows that it is an open country. No one interfered in the election process at the polling stations, but anyone could watch the voting.”

Another member of the Turkish parliament, Ibrahim Aydemir, emphasized that Azerbaijan is an extremely significant country for Turkey.

“The normal course of the election process in Azerbaijan is very gratifying for us,” Aydemir added. “We observed the conditions created for this, and the country can only be proud of them. Some countries should learn from Azerbaijan.”

The parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan on February 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections. The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups.

Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent – male candidates.

As many as 5,426 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers were monitoring the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.