Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Candidate from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, chairman of the party Ilham Aliyev took a decisive victory at the October 9 presidential elections, by gaining the overwhelming majority of votes.

After announcement of his victory based on initial results of the vote Ilham Aliyev has received congratulations from top officials of various countries.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on October 9 and congratulated him with a remarkable victory in the presidential elections.

He wished Ilham Aliyev success in his activities for Azerbaijani people's welfare and prosperity.

Ilham Aliyev, in turn, thanked the Turkish president for his congratulations and attention.

The presidents of both countries noted friendly and fraternal relations between the two countries were constantly developing. They expressed confidence that the bilateral ties would continue to develop in all fields.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych also phoned Ilham Aliyev on October 9 to extend congratulations on his confident victory in the presidential elections and to wish him success in his presidential activities for the welfare of Azerbaijani people.

President Ilham Aliyev expressed gratitude to Viktor Yanukovych for his congratulations and attention.

The presidents of both countries noted that the existing friendly ties between Azerbaijan and Ukraine were successfully developing, and expressed confidence that the bilateral relations would continue to develop.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also called on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on October 9 and congratulated the President on his confident victory in the presidential elections, wishing him success in his presidential activities for future development of Azerbaijan and its people.

The Azerbaijani leader expressed gratitude to the Turkish Prime Minister for his attention and congratulations.

The Head of the State and the Turkish Premier expressed confidence that friendly and fraternal relations between the two countries would successfully develop in the future.

According to preliminary results of the presidential polls, Ilham Aliyev has won 84.59 percent of total votes.

Presidential candidate Jamil Hasanli ranked second by gaining 5.2 percent of total votes.

The number of eligible voters in the country was nearly 5,145,000. The voting was conducted in 5,492 polling stations. Thirty-eight polling stations were set up abroad.

The presidential elections was observed by leading media outlets of the world, including the Turkish TV channel TRT Haber, Euronews TV channel, Russia's ITAR-TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies, as well as Reuters.