Turkey welcomes peaceful election in Azerbaijan

ANKARA

Turkey on Sunday welcomed the peaceful voting in Azerbaijan.

“We wish that the parliamentary elections held today will be auspicious for brotherly Azerbaijan,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It also congratulated President Ilham Aliyev and the New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) under his leadership, for their election success.

“We are happy that the elections were conducted peacefully across the country,” read the statement.

“We believe that the efforts of the Azerbaijani authorities from the beginning and the maturity of the Azerbaijani people displayed during the election process to ensure that the elections were held in accordance with the democratic principles and transparency standards are worthy of praise,” it added.

On Sunday, over 5.3 million registered voters cast ballots to choose 125 members of the Milli Majlis, or National Assembly.

With polls closed at 7 p.m. local time (1500GMT), the preliminary results are yet to be revealed.