Azerbaijan's ruling party claims reelection victory for president

Reuters
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev casts his vote in the presidential election at a polling station in Baku October 9, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer

BAKU (Reuters) - Azerbaijan's ruling party claimed President Ilham Aliyev won re-election in the former Soviet republic on Wednesday, citing exit polls that gave him more than 80 percent of the vote. "There are grounds to congratulate Aliyev on his victory. We trust the exit-poll results ... Aliyev is the elected president and he will be ruling our country for the next five years," New Azerbaijan party executive secretary Ali Akhmedov said. (Reporting by Margarita Antidze, Writing by Thomas Grove, Editing by Steve Gutterman)