Today's presidential election in Azerbaijan has historical significance - OTS Secretary General

BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 7. Today's presidential election in Azerbaijan has historical significance, Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) Kubanychbek Omuraliev told reporters, Trend reports.

"Our mission is divided into two groups. Now one group is monitoring in Karabakh, that is specifically in Shusha and Khankendi. The second group is here in Baku. We had meetings yesterday with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the head of the Central Election Commission within the framework of this monitoring, and we received all the necessary information about the process, the candidates, the legislative framework, and in general the electoral process. Our missions also met with the presidential candidates, including representatives of the party that participated in the election. However, I would like to say here that any such election process for a head of state is a very important event. This election process in Azerbaijan, however, I would even call it historic. Our brotherly Azerbaijani people are voting on the whole territory of the country," he said.

To note, voting in the presidential election is going on in Azerbaijan.

Candidates for the presidency in the upcoming election include incumbent President Ilham Aliyev (New Azerbaijan Party), independent contenders Zahid Oruj and Fuad Aliyev, Razi Nurullayev (National Front Party), Fazil Mustafa (Great Order Party), Elshad Musayev (Great Azerbaijan Party), and Gudrat Gasanguliyev (Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party).

From 08:00 (GMT+4), polling stations will be open for voters, and close at 19:00. The Central Election Commission Secretariat's Information Center will share preliminary updates on the voting process and results at 15:00, 17:00, and 19:00 Baku time.

The voter roll boasts 6,478,623 people who will cast their votes across 6,537 polling stations throughout the country.

A total of 90,372 observers are registered to monitor the election, with 790 of them representing 72 international organizations from 89 countries.

For the first time in the history of independent Azerbaijan, the upcoming election will span across the entire country, including the lands liberated from Armenian occupation in 2020. In the liberated territories, 26 polling stations have been established.

For Azerbaijani citizens residing abroad, 49 polling stations have been established in the embassies and consulates of 37 countries. This allows over 23,000 expatriates to participate in the voting process from various corners of the globe.

A robust media presence of 190 international entities is dedicated to observing the election, with 216 of their representatives officially registered as international observers.

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