1027) Armenians See The Neighbours Enemy / Armenians Reject Trade with Turkey

According to the poll, 14.9 percent of correspondents rely on Artashes Gegamyan among politicians. He is followed by Gagik Charukyan (13.5%), Robert Khocharian (12.3%), Arthur Bagdasaryan (8.9%), Raffi Ovanesyan (6.7%), Tigran Karapetyan (5.6%), Stepan Damirchiyan (4.1%), Serj Sarkisyan (2.5%), Vazgen Manukyan (2.1%) and Aram Karapetyan (0.8%).

79.6 percent of Armenians are in positive opinion on Russia and 49 percent on the United States. The matter is Armenians are in negative opinion on neighboring countries. The respondents consider Turkey (80.1 percent), Azerbaijan (86.5 percent) and Georgia (54.7 percent) enemy countries. . .

The poll also clarified the question on which subject can have a positive impact on the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The respondents mentioned Russia (43.8%), U.S (33.3%), UN (20.7%) and France (17.9%) among positive subjects.

41.6 percent believe the Karabakh conflict can be solved through international mediators, 40.7 percent through making trade-offs, 11.5 percent through force. Armenians do not have unambiguous approach to the solution of the conflict. One in two Armenians want Nagorno Karabakh to be unified with Armenia and the other wants it to be independent. 55.2 percent advocated holding a referendum on the status of Nagorno Garabagh and 21.6 percent stood against this.

Armenians' opinions clash in terms of the issue who must participate in the referendum. 56.7 percent think the voters should be the current population of Nagorno Karabakh, 15.6 percent think anyone, 15.3 percent only refugees from Nagorno Karabakh, 5.6 percent think those lived in the region till 1991 and 5.3 percent thinks Armenian and Azerbaijani citizens should participate in the referendum.

57.7 percent of respondents advocated opening of Armenia-Turkey borders and one in three Armenians is against this.

20 September 2006
Turkish Weekly

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Armenians Reject Trade, Commerce with Turkey
September 21, 2006

- Many adults in Armenia believe their border with Turkey should not be reopened unless there is an acknowledgement of the genocide, according to a poll by the Gallup Organization. 57 per cent of respondents reject resuming cross-border travel and commerce.

Relations between Armenia and Turkey are still tense due to historical factors. In 1915, the government of the Ottoman Empire—formed by members of the Turkish nationalist Committee of Union and Progress (ITC)—ordered hundreds of thousands of Armenians to relocate from the Caucasus to Mesopotamia.

The state-sponsored deportation campaign led to a high number of Armenian fatalities, estimated at anywhere from 200,000 to 1.8 million. While some scholars believe the campaign was a deliberate attempt to exterminate Armenians, Turkey has never formally accepted the use of the term "genocide" to describe the event.

Yesterday, Turkish deputy prime minister Egemen Bagish discussed the situation, saying, "(Turkish prime minister Recep Tayip) Erdogan took a step that no one has ever taken. He declared that the Turkish people are ready to stand face-to-face with their past and offered discussions with Armenia if it can do the same. Armenians rejected to stand-face-to-face with their past and said they will make Turkey accept what they want. So, there is nothing to say in this case."

The poll was conducted with the support of the Armenian Sociological Association, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the International Republican Institute.

Polling Data
Do you agree or disagree with reopening of the Turkish-Armenian border, that is, the unconditional resumption of cross-border travel and commerce, without Turkish recognition of the genocide?

Agree 39%

Disagree 57%

Source: Gallup Organization / Armenian Sociological Association / U.S. Agency for International Development / International Republican Institute
Methodology: Interviews with 1,200 Armenian adults, conducted in early August 2006. Margin of error is 3 per cent.