How Armenian Citizens Relate to Relations with Turkey: Turkish Expert Publishes IRI Survey

Turkish expert Varuzhan Geghamyan has addressed the latest public opinion survey results conducted by the American IRI organization in Armenia (the survey was conducted between November and December 2021) on his Facebook page. He specifically noted:

“Some results of the survey are significant for understanding how Armenian citizens view relations with Turkey. Here are some findings (I will post the complete survey results in the comments). The overwhelming majority of respondents consider Turkey (90%) and Azerbaijan (77%) as the main political threats to Armenia. Most also view these countries as security threats (88% and 81% respectively) and economic threats (68% and 52% respectively).

Only 5% believe relations with Turkey should be strengthened for Armenia's development. Only 29% think relations with Turkey should be established unconditionally. About half of the respondents believe dialogue with Turkey should begin, but the recognition of the Armenian Genocide must remain on the agenda. Meanwhile, 48% also believe Armenia should present its preconditions.

The majority of respondents (about 59%) believe that the opening of transport routes with Azerbaijan will have a negative impact on Armenia's economic development (27% think otherwise). The picture is almost the same regarding the opening of routes with Turkey (53% believe it will have a negative impact on Armenia).

If we compare the above with other survey results, we can state that despite the pro-Turkish propaganda being carried out by the de facto authorities of Armenia and various marginal groups (under the guise of a ‘peace era’ agenda), the majority of the Armenian population, fortunately, understands that Turkey and Azerbaijan aim to destroy Armenia as a political self-sufficient factor, and the notion of real peace is absent.

It remains for the national forces to capitalize on these sentiments, first by disrupting the development of the anti-Armenian agenda (from abandoning Artsakh to providing corridors) and then reaching the removal of the capitulatory authorities.”