For the first time voting will be held in the whole territory of the country
Azerbaijan is actively preparing for the snap presidential election scheduled for February 7. Seven candidates, including incumbent President Ilham Aliyev will fight for the post of the head of state. In Azerbaijan and beyond its borders, there are no doubts about who will be the winner of the presidential race — the incumbent head of state, who is at the peak of popularity after the restoration of the territorial integrity of the country.
As a matter of fact, 2023 has gone down in the history of the country as the year of the restoration of its sovereignty and creation of conditions for the voluntary return of 700,000 internally displaced persons awaiting to return to their homes for the last 30 years. Speaking on this topic in a recent interview to Azerbaijani TV channels, President Aliyev pointed out that a new era begins in Azerbaijan and the first election to be held throughout the country should be the presidential election. The head of state also noted that there is a need to summarize the results of his presidency and receive a new mandate of trust. Aliyev was nominated by the New Azerbaijan Party.
As for the other six candidates, they are leaders of other political parties and public associations. Some are members of the Milli Majlis, the national assembly — Zahid Oruj, Razi Nurullayev (National Front Party), Hudrat Hasanguliyev (United Azerbaijan Popular Front Party) and Fazil Mustafa (Great Creation Party). Candidates who are not members of the parliament are Elshad Musayev (Great Azerbaijan Party) and Fuad Aliyev (Public Association «Support for Protection of Civil Rights»).
According to the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan, there are 6.3 million registered voters in the country, the oldest of whom is 124 years old. She is Bari Nabiyeva, born in 1900, who lives in Agdash district of the country. A total of 6,319 polling stations have been set up, 26 of them in the territories liberated from occupation, and 49 abroad. Azerbaijani citizens living in the USA will be able to vote in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles — polling stations will operate in the buildings of the Embassy and Consulate General of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
There is a great interest in the election on the part of international organizations. More than 30 of them have confirmed their readiness to send observers: the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Organization for Democracy and Economic Development (GUAM), Organization of Turkic States (OTS), Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and others, the CEC reports.
Members of Jewish communities living in Azerbaijan also pay a big attention to the upcoming presidential election. In an interview to the Azerbaijani website «Election-2024» («Seçki-2024») of the International Media Center, Rabbi Zamir Isayev, Director of the Jewish School № 46 in Baku, Chairman of the Sephardi-Georgian Jewish Religious Community of Azerbaijan, emphasized that the decision to hold snap presidential election received a positive response from members of the community he leads. According to him, the upcoming election will give a new impetus to the development of the country and society. Isayev expressed confidence that Jews living in Azerbaijan will actively participate in the election as always.
The Congress of Bukharian Jews of the USA and Canada, a national umbrella organization of Bukharian Jews of North America established in New York in 1999, has also shown a great interest in the election.
«We have special relations with Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani people in the diaspora, our brothers — Mountain, Georgian and Ashkenazi Jews, who still live in Baku and actively participate in the public and political life of the country,» said Boris Kandov, president of the Congress of Bukharian Jews of the USA and Canada, to the Bukharian Times. «The Congress of Bukharian Jews of the United States and Canada has been actively cooperating in the field of public diplomacy for a number of years, establishing strong cultural ties between the peoples of the United States and Azerbaijan. We are united by many historical, spiritual values, and traditions, contributing to the establishment of strong contacts between our countries, Jewish communities of New York, Baku, and Guba. Bukharian Jewish Congress representatives from the United States and Canada, President of the Tajikistan Foundation Michael Zavulunov and Congressional Coordinator, Editor-in-Chief of the Bukharian Times Rafael Nektalov participated as international observers in the 2020 parliamentary election in Azerbaijan».
Boris Kandov noted that the Chabad-Or-Avner Educational Center, a Jewish school built by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Or-Avner International Foundation within the framework of the Address of Tolerance-Azerbaijan Foundation project, has been operating in Baku since 2010. Several hundred Jewish boys and girls study there. On May 31, 2007, the foundation of the center was laid with participation of President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva. Construction of the education center was completed in 2010. On October 4, 2010, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva and President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS, President of the World Congress of Bukharian Jews and Or-Avner International Foundation Lev Avnerovich Leviev attended the opening ceremony of this beautiful educational center.
«We really have a very strong cultural contacts with Azerbaijan,» Rafael Nektalov noted. «I have been repeatedly invited to international music festivals held in Shusha (2021, 2022), made a report at the Sixth International Mugham Symposium held under the auspices of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. We are frequent guests of cultural events organized by the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the United States: exhibitions of antique carpets, art exhibitions, concerts in D.C. and New York. The ‘Renaissance Theater’ staged a musical comedy ‘Arshin Mal Alan’ (The Cloth Peddler) by Uzeyir Hajibeyov, our Center of Bukharian Jews held concerts of beautiful pianist Nargiz Aliyarova with a program dedicated to the 100th anniversary of composer Fikret Amirov and the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Republic of Azerbaijan.»
The election in Azerbaijan is being held in a difficult period characterized by increasing international tension, outburst of extremist and terrorist activities in different corners of the globe. In these conditions, the role of Azerbaijan as a reliable geo-economic center providing transport connectivity and energy security for Western countries is significantly increasing.
In this regard, the reforms carried out in Azerbaijan, including those aimed at increasing the share of renewable (green) energy, are of particular importance. Not surprisingly, a world-class event is expected to be held in Azerbaijan this November — the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Thus, the upcoming presidential election can be considered as the beginning of a new era in the country’s history, which will be characterized by accelerated development and strengthening of Azerbaijan’s influence as an active member of the international community.’
The Congress of Bukharian Jews of the USA and Canada, a national umbrella organization of Bukharian Jews of North America established in New York in 1999, has also shown a great interest in the election.
«We have special relations with Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani people in the diaspora, our brothers — Mountain, Georgian and Ashkenazi Jews, who still live in Baku and actively participate in the public and political life of the country,» said Boris Kandov, president of the Congress of Bukharian Jews of the USA and Canada, to the Bukharian Times. «The Congress of Bukharian Jews of the United States and Canada has been actively cooperating in the field of public diplomacy for a number of years, establishing strong cultural ties between the peoples of the United States and Azerbaijan. We are united by many historical, spiritual values, and traditions, contributing to the establishment of strong contacts between our countries, Jewish communities of New York, Baku, and Guba. Bukharian Jewish Congress representatives from the United States and Canada, President of the Tajikistan Foundation Michael Zavulunov and Congressional Coordinator, Editor-in-Chief of the Bukharian Times Rafael Nektalov participated as international observers in the 2020 parliamentary election in Azerbaijan».
Boris Kandov noted that the Chabad-Or-Avner Educational Center, a Jewish school built by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Or-Avner International Foundation within the framework of the Address of Tolerance-Azerbaijan Foundation project, has been operating in Baku since 2010. Several hundred Jewish boys and girls study there. On May 31, 2007, the foundation of the center was laid with participation of President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva. Construction of the education center was completed in 2010. On October 4, 2010, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva and President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS, President of the World Congress of Bukharian Jews and Or-Avner International Foundation Lev Avnerovich Leviev attended the opening ceremony of this beautiful educational center.
«We really have a very strong cultural contacts with Azerbaijan,» Rafael Nektalov noted. «I have been repeatedly invited to international music festivals held in Shusha (2021, 2022), made a report at the Sixth International Mugham Symposium held under the auspices of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. We are frequent guests of cultural events organized by the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the United States: exhibitions of antique carpets, art exhibitions, concerts in D.C. and New York. The ‘Renaissance Theater’ staged a musical comedy ‘Arshin Mal Alan’ (The Cloth Peddler) by Uzeyir Hajibeyov, our Center of Bukharian Jews held concerts of beautiful pianist Nargiz Aliyarova with a program dedicated to the 100th anniversary of composer Fikret Amirov and the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Republic of Azerbaijan.»
The election in Azerbaijan is being held in a difficult period characterized by increasing international tension, outburst of extremist and terrorist activities in different corners of the globe. In these conditions, the role of Azerbaijan as a reliable geo-economic center providing transport connectivity and energy security for Western countries is significantly increasing.
In this regard, the reforms carried out in Azerbaijan, including those aimed at increasing the share of renewable (green) energy, are of particular importance. Not surprisingly, a world-class event is expected to be held in Azerbaijan this November — the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Thus, the upcoming presidential election can be considered as the beginning of a new era in the country’s history, which will be characterized by accelerated development and strengthening of Azerbaijan’s influence as an active member of the international community.
Yuriy Tzyrin is Editor of the The Bukharian Times.