Azerbaijan holds snap presidential vote as Aliyev rides support from retaking of Karabakh

Azerbaijanis are voting Wednesday in an election almost certain to see incumbent President Ilhan Aliyev chosen to serve another seven-year term

BAKU, Azerbaijan -- Azerbaijanis are voting Wednesday in an election almost certain to see incumbent President Ilhan Aliyev chosen to serve another seven-year term, following his government’s retaking of a region formerly controlled by ethnic Armenian separatists.

Aliyev, 62, has been in power for more than 20 years, and this is his fifth election cycle. He ordered an early presidential election in December, shortly after his government retook the Karabakh region in a lightning military operation against ethnic Armenian forces.

Analysts suggested Aliyev moved the election forward from October 2025 to capitalize on his burst in popularity following the successful offensive. He will be in the limelight in November when Azerbaijan, a country which relies heavily on revenues from fossil fuels, hosts a U.N. climate change conference.

Aliyev’s time in power has been marked by the introduction of increasingly strict laws that curb political debate as well as arrests of opposition figures and independent journalists — including in the run-up to the presidential election.

In January, Aliyev told local television channels that he wanted the election to “mark the beginning of a new era,” in which Azerbaijan has full control over its territory. He pointed out that polls would be held for the first time in the Karabakh region after the mass exodus of thousands of ethnic Armenians who fled following the Azerbaijani military offensive.