Azerbaijan heads to polls to elect new parliament

Azerbaijan is holding early parliamentary elections, following President Ilham Aliyev's decision to dissolve parliament and move up the general election originally scheduled for November.

A total of 990 candidates will vie for 125 seats in the Azerbaijani parliament, with 6,421,000 registered voters expected to cast their ballots on Sunday.

The election will include candidates from 25 political parties, including the ruling New Azerbaijan Party led by Aliyev, as well as independent candidates.

Voting will take place from 08:00 to 19:00 local time (0400 to1500 GMT), with 112,000 local and 604 foreign observers, including a delegation from the Turkish parliament, monitoring the process.

This election is particularly significant as it marks the first time in 30 years that parliamentary elections will be held across all of Azerbaijan's territory, including areas recently liberated from Armenian occupation.

Polling stations have been set up in cities such as Shusha, Khankendi, and other former Armenian-controlled regions like Khojaly, Khojavend, Agdam and Fuzuli, where more than 42,000 voters are registered.

These elections are seen as a major milestone for Azerbaijan, symbolising the country's full territorial sovereignty after decades of conflict.