Majority of Armenian citizens do not trust Turkey – survey

The European Friends of Armenia organization today publicized the results of the survey conducted between October 15 to 18, 2010 among 1208 respondents in Armenia.

Respondents were asked to comment upon the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement and to express their opinion of whether Armenian-Turkish normalization would be beneficial for Armenia, Andrew Cooper, Executive Director of the Populus public opinion center, told reporters in Yerevan.

According to the survey, 75 percent respondents support President Serzh Sargsyan’s decision to suspend the ratification of the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement protocols. Majority of Armenian citizens think rapprochement with Turkey is almost impossible.

Meanwhile some think rapprochement might be beneficial. The prevailing majority, 78 percent think Armenia’s economy would gain from international trade if Armenian-Turkish relations normalize, 61 percent think rapprochement would give great opportunities to Armenia’s foreign policy, 63 percent said opening the border would help Armenia integrate to Europe.