Turkish officials among observers of Azerbaijani polls

BAKU

Many Turkish officials took place among the observers of snap parliamentary election in Azerbaijan on Sunday.

Muharrem Akkaya, head of Turkey’s Supreme Election Council (YSK), told reporters in a polling station in the capital Baku that he did not see any problems while observing the voting, adding that everything was going "perfect".

Akkaya said he, along with other two YSK officials, is on official visit to Azerbaijan since Mazahir Panahov, his Azerbaijani counterpart, asked them to take part as an observer in the election.

"We hope that the election will take place as the feast of democracy. We want it to have a successful result in Azerbaijani democracy," he said, adding that he wishes the elections to be beneficial for the people of Azerbaijan.

Samil Ayrim, a Turkish lawmaker and head of the Turkey-Azerbaijan Interparliamentary Friendship Group, who is also observing the election in Baku, told reporters that he observed the election system was "established very well" and that their delegation did not encounter any problems.

"I believe that the results of this election will be a herald of a big change in Azerbaijan. There are new candidates, new faces, young people. It will be an election that will bring young people together with experienced politicians," Ayrim said.

Yunus Kilic, a deputy from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, said that many international observers watched the election in Azerbaijan, adding that the polling stations were well-organized for monitoring and observing the process.

Polls opened at 8 a.m. (0400GMT) local time and are set to close at 7 p.m. (1500GMT).

The first informal results are expected to be announced in a few hours after the vote ends in the evening.

A total of 1,314 candidates -- including nearly 300 women -- are running for parliamentary seats in the Caspian country.

Over 5.3 million registered voters are casting votes to choose 125 members of the Milli Majlis, or National Assembly.

Over 130 international media outlets from 47 countries are covering the snap election, and over 77,000 local and 883 foreign observers have been accredited to monitor the polls.