ANKARA: Armenian question has prejudice on both sides

Armenian question has prejudice on both sides

More than 80 percent of Armenians see the `genocide’ as an obstacle to
normalising relation with Turkey.

NTV- MSNBC, Turkey

March 28 – An opinion poll conducted by TESEV in Turkey and HASA in
Armenia shows that both countries have prejudice against each other.

The project, which looked into both countries’ perceptions of each
other, showed a high level of lack of information about the other. The
opinion poll canvassed 1,200 Turks and 1,000 Armenians, which was
conducted over a two year period.

The project said that although there the psychological foundation
necessary for dialogue in both countries there is a low level of
information and very strong negative views towards Turkey in Armenia.

The poll also revealed that 17 percent of the Turks surveyed thought
that Armenians are Jewish, 13.5 percent that it is a communist state
and six percent that it is run by a monarchy. While 68.7 percent of
Armenians define Turks using bad adjectives this figure drops to 34
percent among Turks when they define Armenians. Ninety-four point one
percent of Armenians would not lettheir daughter marry a Turk while
68.1 percent of Turks would not their daughter marry an
Armenian. While 67 percent of Armenians say they would not trust a
Turkish doctor, the figure for Turks regarding an Armenian doctor is
24 percent.