BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10
By Eldar Janashvili - Trend:
The observer of the mission of representatives of the US public from New York, Coordinator of the Congress of Bukharian Jews in the US and Canada Rafael Nektal told reporters about the impressions received in Azerbaijan at a press conference on the early parliamentary elections in the country, Trend reports.
Rafael Nektal said that when he met with the Jewish community in Azerbaijan, he saw the respect shown by a government to ethnic minorities.
"I was in Baku and Guba, and in both cities it was nice to see both a street and a monument to the national hero of Azerbaijan Albert Agarunov, who was of Jewish descent. I saw how the locals respect the community of mountain Jews in Krasnaya Sloboda, the community of Ashkenazi and Georgian Jews in Baku. I was shocked at how much the bridge of mutual assistance and mutual respect between Muslims and Jews was developed here," Rafael Nektal said.
Rafael Nektal also noted that in addition to the biography of Albert Agarunov, he was also acquainted with the January 20 events and others that shocked the society of Azerbaijan on the path to independence, and understands how consolidated here the society is, drawing parallels with the trials of the Jewish people.
Nektal added that the mission visited various cultural and religious sights of Azerbaijan and was pleased with their stay in the country.
The parliamentary elections of the sixth convocation were held in Azerbaijan on Feb. 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections.
The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups. Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent – male candidates.
Throughout the day, 5,573 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country. There were 5,329,461 registered voters.
Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers monitored the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.
Exit polls were conducted by AJF & Associates Inc. (US) jointly with Citizens' Labor Rights Protection League, the Rey Monitoring Center, and the French OpinionWay Research Institute together with the “Human Rights in the XXI Century – Azerbaijan” Foundation.