Putin congratulates Aliyev on re-election as Azerbaijan’s president

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a congratulatory telegram to Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of his re-election to the post of the president of Azerbaijan, the Kremlin press service said on Thursday. Putin said that “a convincing victory clearly confirms the high political authority of Aliyev, testifies to recognition of his merits in solving the urgent socio-economic and foreign policy tasks facing Azerbaijan.” The Russian president also expressed confidence that Moscow and Baku by joint efforts “will ensure further enhancement of fruitful bilateral cooperation in all areas.” After 92 percent of the ballots were counted, Azerbaijan’s central election commission said that Aliyev won 86.09% of the vote in the early presidential election on April 11. Voter turnout was nearly 75 percent.