Elections

The incumbent Georgian head of state said that he will continue to be at the service of the Georgian people and will contribute to Georgia's national interest in other ways

The October election is seen as a test of the popularity of the Georgian Dream government. The ruling party has not yet chosen its candidate, and party chairman Bidhizina Ivanishvili earlier hinted the party may decide to support a non-partisan candidate.

Recip Tayip Erdogan has been re-elected President of Turkey securing 52.5% of the votes in a hotly contested election. Fifty million Turks cast their vote in the poll, which also gave the coalition led by the AK party a majority in parliament.

Polling in Turkey’s parliamentary and presidential elections began on Sunday, with 56,322,632 registered voters and 180,065 ballot boxes across the country.

Several thousand people demonstrated in Baku's Yasamal district on Saturday, 14 April, calling for the cancellation of the results of presidential elections held on 11 April, citing massive electoral fraud.

"The EU looks forward to continuing dialogue and working closely with Azerbaijan, including with a view to addressing fundamental issues of democracy and human rights during the renewed term in office of the President, for the benefit of the people of Azerbaijan and EU-Azerbaijan relations."

In their preliminary report the mission made up of representatives of the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, and of ODIHR, concluded that the election lacked genuine competition.

The Central Elections Commission said that President Aliyev has won 86.09 percent of the vote. According to the CEC voter turnout was 74.51 percent.

There are eight candidates, including the incumbent, President Ilham Aliyev. Under constitutional changes approved last year the term of office for the newly elected president will be seven years. The main opposition parties have called for a boycott of the elections.