Azerbaijan’s Aliyev appears headed to a landslide win in election called after retaking Karabakh

By AIDA SULTANOVA
Associated Press

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Preliminary results of Azerbaijan’s presidential elections show incumbent Ilham Aliyev headed to a resounding victory, as expected. The head of the Central Election Commission said most votes from Wednesday’s election had been counted and Aliyev was winning the race with 92.05%. None of his challengers had more than 3%. Winning the vote will secure Aliyev another seven-year term in office. The vote was initially set for next year, but Aliyev called an early election shortly after Azerbaijani troops retook the Karabakh region from ethnic Armenian forces who controlled it for three decades.