Ilham Aliyev

More than 6.5 million Azerbaijani voters on Feb. 7 are set to head to the ballot boxes to elect their next president a year ahead of the previously scheduled elections.

President İlham Aliyev, nominated by the New Azerbaijan Party, will compete against six other candidates.

An Azerbaijan parliamentary commission called Thursday for the expulsion of French companies from the oil-rich country, including energy giant TotalEnergies, in the latest deterioration of relations between Baku and Paris.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly hit out at France for criticising Baku's Karabakh offensive last year, and for plans by Paris officials to help arm neighbouring Armenia.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Wednesday that conditions for a peace treaty with arch-foe Armenia had been "created," adding that he did not want another war.

The two Caucasus neighbors and historical foes have fought two wars over the Nagorno-Karabakh region during the past three decades, with Baku retaking control of the territory in a one-day offensive last fall.

Azerbaijan told France Wednesday not to "intervene" in its internal affairs after Baku arrested a Frenchman on espionage charges with tensions running high between the two countries.

Baku has accused France of supporting Azerbaijan's arch-enemy Armenia, both diplomatically and militarily, and of seeking to fuel tensions in the South Caucasus.

Azerbaijan authorities arrested a Frenchman on espionage charges in December, the Azerbaijani ambassador to France told AFP on Tuesday.

The annoucement comes amid rising tensions between Baku and Paris.

Baku has accused France of supporting Azerbaijan's arch-enemy Armenia, both diplomatically and militarily, and of seeking to fuel tensions in the South Caucasus.

Azerbaijan's ruling party on Friday nominated incumbent President Ilham Aliyev for re-election next year, a move expected to extend the decades-long rule of the Aliyev family.

The 61-year-old has governed the energy-rich country since 2003, when he succeeded his father, Heydar, a former KGB officer and Communist-era boss.

Türkiye has welcomed the recent confidence-building measures taken by Armenia and Azerbaijan and underlined that the South Caucasus is closer to historic peace than ever before with calls on the third parties not to hinder the talks between the two countries.

NIS - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Nis on Sunday to discuss all important topics of interest for bilateral and economic relations between the two countries as well as current geopolitical affairs.

NIS - The presidents of Serbia, Bulgaria and Azerbaijan - Aleksandar Vucic, Rumen Radev and Ilham Aliyev - and the head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Emanuele Giaufret launched a Serbia-Bulgaria natural gas interconnector on Sunday.

At a ceremony at the Trupale natural gas station near Nis, they pressed a button together to put the gas pipeline into operation.

Speculations are rife about the potential buyer for Lukoil Neftohim Burgas refinery, with Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR emerging as the primary contender, as reported by Trud newspaper.