Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.26
By Orkhan Guluzade – Trend:
The activity of Azerbaijani citizens in the referendum on amending the constitution is high, Haluk Ipek, head of the TURKPA (Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-Speaking Countries) observer mission, member of Turkish Grand National Assembly, told Trend Sept.26.
Ipek pointed out that the third referendum in Azerbaijan is being held in a calm atmosphere and the voter turnout is high.
“The voting is being held in a calm atmosphere and no incidents have been recorded,” he said. “We observed high activity of the citizens. Around 40-45 percent of the population has already voted.”
TURKPA observer mission includes MPs from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey.
The referendum to make amendments to Azerbaijan’s Constitution kicked off at 08:00 and will wrap up at 19:00 (UTC/GMT +4).
The number of voters in Azerbaijan stands at 5,267,111 people, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC).
As many as 117 international observers – MPs from around 35 countries as well as observers from various international organizations, including the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) – have been accredited by Azerbaijan’s CEC to observe the referendum.
The total number of the observers is around 53,000.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order to hold a referendum on amending the Constitution on Sept. 26.
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