Azerbaijan holds snap presidential vote as Aliyev rides support from retaking of Karabakh

By AIDA SULTANOVA
Associated Press

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Azerbaijanis are voting Wednesday in an election almost certain to see incumbent President Ilhan Aliyev chosen to serve another seven-year term. That follows his government’s retaking late last year of a region formerly controlled by ethnic Armenian separatists. Aliyev has been in power for more than 20 years, and this is his fifth election cycle. During his time in power, Aliyev’s government has introduced increasingly repressive laws that have quashed political debate. Opposition figures and independent journalists have been targeted and some have been jailed, including in the run-up to the presidential election. Azerbaijan’s two main opposition parties are not taking part in the election, which they say is not democratic.