Bashar al-Assad’s presidential election victory, which was widely denounced by western states, has received praise from his allies in Moscow, Caracas and Pyongyang, Syria’s state news agency SANA has reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un were among leaders who called Assad to congratulate him on winning a third term as president, Sana said.
Assad was declared the winner of Tuesday's presidential election with 88.7 percent of the votes.
Some critics have dismissed the poll - held only in government-controlled areas - as a “farce,” with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry calling it "a great big zero".
Syria has been gripped in an ongoing civil war since 2011 in which more than 100,000 people have been killed and close to half of the 22-million population displaced, according to the UN.
A team of international observers who monitored the polls only comprised people from Assad regime allies such as Russia, North Korea and Iran.
aa.com.tr/en
