US committed to helping Azerbaijan build stronger democracy

By  Trend

The US recognizes the results of the referendum in Azerbaijan, US department spokesman Mark Toner said at daily briefing.

He added that the conducted constitutional referendum in Azerbaijan came off without any security incidents.

"We do remain committed to helping Azerbaijanis build a stronger democracy and encourage political transparency and dialogue within the country," he said.

"I think our focus, is on how do we improve the institutions and how do we improve or work with the Azerbaijani people and government to improve the process, the democratic process," he said.

The referendum to make amendments to Azerbaijan’s Constitution kicked off at 08:00 and wrapped up at 19:00 (UTC/GMT +4) on September 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) – have been accredited by Azerbaijan’s CEC to observe the referendum.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order to hold a referendum on amending the Constitution on September 26.

Vast majority of the voters supported the amendments to all the paragraphs put up for voting. Mazahir Panahov, head of the Azerbaijani Central Election Commission, said that the voter turnout throughout the country stood at 69.7 percent.