Armenia: Yerevan Opinion Poll Shows Strong Opposition to Turkish Reconciliation

A recent survey conducted by the Armenian Sociological Association (ASA) shows that a narrow majority of the Armenian capital Yerevan opposes the reconciliation agreement recently signed by Armenian and Turkey.

More than 52 percent of 1,000 surveyed Yerevan residents opposed ratification of the deal by the national legislature, ASA Chairman Gevorg Pogosian told an October 19 news conference, local media reported. ASA conducted the poll in September, weeks before the Armenian and Turkish foreign ministers signed the deal that provides for the estranged neighbors to reopen their borders and establish diplomatic ties.

"Armenian society is split over the process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish ties," Porgosian was quoted by the Kavkazsky Uzel news service as saying. "It is strange that before starting a political campaign of such scale, the Armenian authorities did not conduct any opinion poll to gauge public sentiments and did not publish the data [of the ASA poll]," he said.