Government papers said the poll was a step towards a happy future

As Ilham Aliyev celebrates his success in Azerbaijan's presidential election amid allegations of foul play, the country's press is split down the middle.

Pro-government papers predictably hail the outcome as a display of Azeri solidarity and a step towards a better future.

But the opposition press maintains that the election was blatantly rigged and believes victory was stolen from opposition candidate Isa Gambar.

This election will prove an important step towards a happy future for Azerbaijan.

Azarbaycan (pro-government)

Isn't it strange that the destructive forces, the political parties which form the coalition, cannot still see that all their attempts to undermine our unity are in vain?

Bakinskiy Rabochiy (pro-government)

People have chosen Ilham Aliyev. October 15th 2003 will be marked in Azerbaijan's history as the first presidential elections of the 21st century.

Yeni Azarbaycan (ruling party's newspaper)

The overwhelming majority of the people supports the continuation of Heydar Aliyev's policies.

Bizim Asr (pro-government)

The opposition camp yesterday did its best to disrupt the elections and cause confrontation.

Palitra (pro-government)

It is evident that the figures have been exaggerated and in some cases excessively so.

Xalq Cabhasi (supports pro-government candidate Qudrat Hasanquliyev)

The mafia has strangled democracy... Yesterday's election was the most disgraceful in Azerbaijan's history. The election figures were also falsified under Heydar Aliyev, but not that much... Ilham Aliyev is caught in a trap of his own making.

Azadliq (opposition)

Ninety per cent of people who went to the polling stations voted for Isa Qambar.

Hurriyyat (opposition)

Isa Qambar is the president. All the foreign observation missions and the entire world, as well as the Azerbaijani people who voted for him, know this for a fact. The nation said 'No' to Heydar Aliyev's son.

Yeni Musavat (opposition)

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.