MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called Ilham Aliyev’s convincing victory in Azerbaijan’s presidential election a clear proof of his authority and recognition of the leader’s merits in solving vital tasks, the Kremlin press service said.

In his telegram on occasion of Aliyev’s re-election, Putin noted that his "convincing victory in the election clearly proves Aliyev’s high political authority and shows the appreciation of his merits in solving topical social and economic and foreign policy tasks facing Azerbaijan."

"The Russian president highly assessed Aliyev’s efforts in strengthening friendly and good neighborly relations between Moscow and Baku and expressed confidence that by joint efforts the states will ensure further development of fruitful bilateral cooperation in all areas and also partnership in regional and international affairs, which certainly meets vital interests of the Russian and Azerbaijani people," the Kremlin said.

According to preliminary data of Azerbaijan’s Central Election Commission, Aliyev won 86.09% of the vote in the early presidential election on April 11 after 92% of the ballots have been counted. The voter turnout reached nearly 75%.