Voter turnout was reported to be around 49.42%. Local election monitoring organisations reported various violations

"The spat in Bishkek is an indication that the atmosphere between the two sides remains poisoned and that President Putin efforts at "peace-making" do not seem to be going very far".

A delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) visited Tbilisi this week and concluded that "there is an environment for democratic elections".

The Pope will arrive in Tbilisi on 30 September and will stay until 2 October when he flies to Baku before returning to Rome that same evening. This will be the Pope's second trip to the South Caucasus this year. In June he visited Armenia

The political maturity of a nation is difficult to define, but on 8 October Georgians will contribute to the world's perception of their political maturity through the way they will engage with the electoral process.

The first indication of what kind of government Karen Karapetyan will lead will come over the next days when he appoints his new Ministers.

A statement by the European External Action Service said that "The electoral stakeholders in Armenia should now fully implement the new electoral legislation in good faith in order to increase credibility, transparency and public trust in the new electoral system"

Pope Francis will meet civil and religious authorities in Georgia and Azerbaijan and will make several speeches during his visit to the Caucasus.

Commonspace.eu political editor said in a comment that opposition rallies are a rare event in Azerbaijan and are usually held under tightly controlled conditions

The referendum is therefore likely to be another disappointment for those wanting to see serious political reforms in Azerbaijan, and who have been waiting patiently for many years to see a signal that the process has started.