Turks on Armenians: A Survey Conducted

Turkologist Varoujan Geghamyan writes on his Telegram channel: Last week, surveys published by the IRI showed that the overwhelming majority of Armenia's population, despite government propaganda, accurately assess the challenges facing Armenia, seeing Turkey and Azerbaijan as political, security, and economic threats. Today, I want to share another relatively recent public opinion survey that was conducted in Turkey (October-November 2021).

The survey was conducted by the Turkish Kadir Has University as part of its annual research program. Let's see what the Turks think about this.

First, let’s examine the section of the survey that addresses the public's perception of external threats in Turkey (I will attach the entire survey).

• In response to the question of which listed countries pose a threat to Turkey, the majority of respondents—60.9%—consider Armenia a threat. In this regard, Armenia is 'leading' in the perceptions of Turkish citizens. It should also be noted that this figure has been steadily increasing (58.9% in 2020, and 46.5% in 2019 believed the same).
• Following Armenia in the list of threatening countries are Israel, the USA, Iraq, Cyprus, Iran, France, Syria, Greece, and Russia, among others.
• Another point in the survey indicates the negative attitude towards Armenians. In response to the question, 'Would you accept a neighbor who is of Armenian ethnicity?', the majority of Turkish citizens—53.8%—responded 'no'. Only 8.2% reacted positively to such a possibility.
• Regarding improving relations with Armenia, an absolute majority of respondents—66.2%—do not support the normalization of relations with Armenia (only 14.4% are in favor).

The survey once again reaffirms a clear reality: there is no peace agenda among the populations of either Armenia or Turkey. However, if Turkey, starting from its 'era of friendship', seeks to gain the desired influence in the South Caucasus through the elimination of Armenia as an independent political actor and the actual control of all communications, then the Republic of Armenia would only lose, effectively becoming a banana republic dependent on Turkey. This, of course, will not change the Turks’ attitude towards Armenia and the Armenian people.