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Azerbaijani emigres living in Germany held a protest outside the office of the Social Democratic Party where the German MP Doris Barnett resides. In particular, Barnett said that the elections were well prepared and in many of their qualities they are not different from the elections held in Germany.

As the Azerbaijani information agency Turan reports, Azerbaijani political immigrants living in Germany held a protest outside the office of the Social Democratic Party in Ludwigshafen.

The protesters came to the action with the slogan: "Why a blind eye to fraud during the elections? ", "Shame on politicians opening their arms to corrupt Aliyev", etc.

As the article notes, Dorris Barnett came to the protesters and listened to them. The latter called her to apologize to the people of Azerbaijan and European democracy for the disrespect shown.

В свою очередь Дорис Барнетт сказала, что ее высказывания были искажены. «Как я могла сказать, что выборы в Азербайджане не отличаются от выборов в Германии? Положительно я отозвалась только о технической подготовке выборов. Я наблюдала лишь на одном участке, хотела пойти и на другие, но не дали возможности», - заявила Доррис Барнетт.

In its turn, Doris Barnett said her remarks had been distorted. "How could I say that the elections in Azerbaijan do not differ from the elections in Germany? I responded positively only to the technical preparations for the elections. I watched only one poll station and wanted to go to others, but I was not given the opportunity,” Doris Barnett stated.

According to her, the long-term OSCE mission has already given its objective conclusion on the elections. In Azerbaijan, there are no fundamental freedoms, including freedom of the press, there are political prisoners and pressure on the opposition, said Doris Barnett.

Azerbaijan held presidential elections on October 9, where Ilham ALiyev took a victory with 84,58% votes. According to the preliminary data, Jamil Hasanli a single candidate from the oppositionist National Council of Democratic Forces is on the second place. He scored 5,54% of votes. The leaders of the "Musavat" party Isa Gambar, the head of the Popular Front Party Ali Kerimli, the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan Sardar Jalaloglu and leader of the movement “EL” Eldar Namazov have declared about "total violations" and frauds during the presidential elections. The candidate of the National Council Jamil Hasanli has also noted the mass election frauds and announced incumbent President Ilham Aliyev responsible that. Jamil Hasanli’s headquarter has regularly issued releases describing election violations in details - ballot stuffing, "carousels", pressure on observes, etc.

The joint statement of the ODIHR / OSCE observation mission and the Parliamentary Assembly, noted that the presidential elections were held in Azerbaijan in terms of restriction of freedom of speech and assembly. Serious violations were observed at all stages of the electoral process that require investigation. "Arrests, criminal harassment, physical attacks, and other forms of pressure on journalists had a negative effect on the media," concluded the observers.

The head of the observation mission of the OSCE / ODIHR Tana de Zulueta stressed that the observers came to the conclusion that the election process in Azerbaijan did not meet with the obligations this country has towards the OSCE in most aspects.
In its turn, the Minister for European Affairs David Lidington stated that the British Foreign Ministry shares the OSCE / ODIHR’s opinion that the presidential elections held in Azerbaijan failed to meet the commitments with OSCE.

The U.S. State Department spokesman Marie Harf stated that the U.S. have repeatedly urged the government of Azerbaijan to ensure free and fair elections, However I with a sorrow I have to admit that these elections did not meet international standards. The paper notes that the United States shared the OSCE / ODIHR and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s opinion that Azerbaijani elections were held with serious violations to which Azerbaijan should focus its attention.