Aliyev wins presidential election in Azerbaijan: CEC

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Voting wrapped up in Azerbaijan's presidential election on Wednesday with incumbent President Ilham Aliyev winning his third five-year term, preliminary results from Central Election Commission (CEC) and exit polls for the election showed.

Preliminary data showed that Aliyev won the election with nearly 85 percent of votes, the statement posted on the website of the CEC's Information Center said.

Jamil Hasanli, Aliyev's main opponent from National Council, only gained around 4 percent of the ballots, the statement added.

The official preliminary results were in accordance with most exit polls conducted during the voting on Wednesday.

Early exit poll results announced by Cooperation Alliance Chairman Rufiz Qonaqov showed incumbent Aliyev wins 83.89 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, an exit-poll from Opinion Way Research Institute in France gave Aliyev the first place with 82.8 percent of votes. He is followed by Jamil Hasanli, 9.3 percent.

The turnout in Azerbaijan's presidential election was 72.31 percent, the Central Election Commission said. The voting process was monitored by approximately 52,000 local observers and 1,400 international observers.

"Voters were in a very good mood. They came and voted in accordance with democratic norms," Pavel Goga, member of the Slovakian parliament who was observing the election in Azerbaijan, said Wednesday.

No serious violations, acts of violence or human rights violations were recorded by the German mission, said German observation group consisting of 36 members.

Born in 1961, Aliyev was first elected president in October 2003 as the hand-picked successor to his father Heydar Aliyev, who died two months later. He won 76 percent of the vote in 2003 and was re-elected in 2008 with 89 percent.

A referendum in 2009 abolished presidential term limits, enabling Aliyev to run again.

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