By Margarita Antidze and Hasmik Mkrtchyan
YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenians voted on Tuesday in apresidential election that Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan, givencredit for rising living standards, is expected to win.
Opinion polls give Sarksyan, an ally of outgoing PresidentRobert Kocharyan, more than 50 percent support.
Armenia is squeezed between the more economically powerfulTurkey and Azerbaijan, and the region is emerging as a transitroute for oil exports from the Caspian Sea to world markets.
Most observers predict that if Sarksyan is elected, hisrule will be broadly a continuation of Kocharyan's 10 years inoffice, which have been marked by economic growth and firmstands towards Azerbaijan and Turkey.
After voting in a public school in Yerevan, Sarksyanavoided any triumphalist comments and said the most importantissue was that Armenia was conducting a free and fair election.
"It's not important whether the election will be held inone or two rounds. The most important point is that ourelection be trustworthy," Sarksyan said. The top two candidateswill contest a run-off if no one tops 50 percent in the firstround vote.
Voters trickled to the polls when they opened at 8 a.m. (4a.m. British time). Polling stations close at 8 p.m. in thecountry of 3.2 million people and first results are expected onWednesday.
The opposition says the campaign has been unfair and hasvowed to take to the streets if it detects vote-rigging.
Previous elections in Armenia, high in the Caucasusmountains, have been followed by mass opposition protestsalleging ballot fraud.
The rest of the field is led by former speaker ofparliament Artur Baghdasaryan and Levon Ter-Petrosyan, a formerpresident who was forced to resign in 1998 and is now seeking acomeback.
There is friction between Armenia and the Azeris over thebreakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, now controlled byArmenians. Energy flows could be threatened, analysts say, ifthis unresolved conflict flares up again into fighting.
A dispute between Armenia and another neighbour, Turkey,complicates Ankara's relations with the West.
TEST OF STABILITY
Kocharyan, 53, is barred by the constitution from serving athird consecutive term. He is expected to remain influentialbut has refused to disclose what role he wants until hisreplacement is inaugurated.
"I think no one has any doubt about whom I would be votingfor. I voted for stability and prosperity in Armenia,"Kocharyan said, after casting a ballot at the same pollingstation where his prime minister had voted an hour later.
In a recent local TV interview he said he would be votingfor Sarksyan.
Engineer Mesrop Yegizaryan, 48, cast his ballot forTer-Petrosyan at public school number 24.
"I'm voting for him because he made a lot of mistakes whenhe used to be president. But he's changed a lot since then andI'd like to support him to give him a chance to rebuild what hehas destroyed," he said.
More than 300 foreign observers from the Organisation forSecurity and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and dozens from theCouncil of Europe and other foreign organisations, will monitorvoting.
Final results must be released within seven days of thevote.
(Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Robert Woodward)
