Mubariz Ahmedoglu, a political analyst, said at the Moscow-Baku video conference in RIA Novosti that the outcome of the Azerbaijani elections yesterday was predictable. He admitted that experts had expected a tenser atmosphere. Most importantly, people knew who to vote for and the politics of the past 5 years helped make the choice, Ahmedoglu believes.
The expert noted that the Russian delegation of observers was the biggest, which served to show sympathy of Russia towards Azerbaijan.
Fikret Sadykhov, a professor of the Western University and a political analyst, asserted that Azerbaijan had passed a hard period. People chose dynamic progress, leadership in the South Caucasus and strengthening of ties with Russia.
Ahmedoglu emphasized that Azerbaijan will not make any steps affecting relations with Russia for the worse. President Ilham Aliyev said that the relations should be strategic. Azerbaijan is unique because Iran and Turkey take its opinion into account.
Sadykhov said that a lot had been done to gain support for the president because the relations were constructive. He added that Azerbaijan was working on improving bilateral relations with members of the Eurasian Union and the CSTO, although it was not part of any of the two structures. Sadykhov highlighted military cooperation of Azerbaijan and Russia.
