Crowds gathered in the streets of the capital Baku to celebrate Ilham Aliyev's fifth consecutive term in office.
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev won his fifth consecutive term in power with more than 92% of the vote, according to election authorities.
But international observers say he had no meaningful challenger.
The main rival parties boycotted the election, with one opposition leader calling it an “imitation of democracy”.
Wednesday's vote had been scheduled for 2025, but was held en masse after the government seized control of areas controlled by ethnic Armenian separatists.
Mr. Aliyev ran against six other candidates, none of whom criticized his governance.
Thousands of supporters took to the streets of the capital, Baku, to celebrate the president's re-election.
State media, citing election officials, said Aliyev won 92.05% of the votes, with more than 93% of the votes counted and about 76% of the votes cast.
Presidents typically receive more than 85% of the vote in elections, but rights groups say this is neither free nor fair.
President Aliyev released early opinion polls last year after his approval ratings soared following Azerbaijan's successful military operation in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan's blitzkrieg in September ended three decades of ethnic Armenian rule in the area, which is internationally recognized as Azerbaijan territory.
Most of the 120,000 ethnic Armenians have fled to neighboring Armenia, but some of the breakaway territory's top leaders have been arrested and charged with various crimes and have been held in pretrial detention in Azerbaijan for months.
Aliyev described Karabakh's victory as an “unprecedented milestone in Azerbaijan's history,” adding that the elections would mark “the beginning of a new era” as they would be held over the entire territory for the first time. .
Ali Kerimari, head of the Popular Front, one of Azerbaijan's main opposition parties, said: “The conditions for holding free and fair elections do not exist in the country.”
“Freedom of assembly is restricted, the media is under government pressure, and political dissent is suppressed,” he added.
image source, President of Azerbaijan
Ilham Aliyev, voting on Wednesday, officially received more than 92% of the votes in most vote-counting situations.
Aliyev first became president in 2003 following the death of his father, Heydar Aliyev. His family seized power in 1993, two years after Azerbaijan gained independence from the former Soviet Union.
Azerbaijani authorities have increased pressure on independent media in recent months, arresting several critical journalists.
Azerbaijan has drawn criticism from human rights group Amnesty International, which accuses authorities of suppressing freedom of expression and targeting voices critical of the president.
A number of foreign leaders have congratulated Aliyev on his election victory, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
