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27 September 2016

By Anvar Mammadov – Trend

The referendum in Azerbaijan was held transparently, fairly and in accordance with the law, Maharram Zulfugarli, head of the election headquarters of the Association for Civil Society Development in Azerbaijan, said during a press conference Sept.27.

He pointed out that the referendum is an important step towards protecting the country's independence, even more successfully organizing national security and protection of human rights.

The organization’s observer mission held a monitoring in 65 constituencies with participation of 3,000 observers, said Zulfugarli.

“The initial information was made public five times throughout the day (at 10:00, 12:00, 15:00, 17:00 and 19:00). Moreover, our headquarters announced the preliminary results of the referendum at 21:00. The voter turnout was quite high,” he added.

The referendum to make amendments to Azerbaijan’s Constitution kicked off at 08:00 and wrapped up at 19:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) Sept. 26.

As many as 117 international observers – MPs from over 30 countries as well as observers from various international organizations, including the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) – were accredited by Azerbaijan’s CEC to observe the referendum.

The total number of the observers was around 53,000.