Poll suggests great mutual ignorance in Turkey, Armenia
NTV Online web site, Istanbul
28 Mar 05
A study entitled “Project on mutual perceptions of citizens of Armenia
and Turkey” suggests a very high level of ignorance in the two
countries about each other.
The study conducted in the two countries jointly by TESEV [Turkish
Economic and Social Studies Foundation] from Turkey and HASA or the
Social Sciences Centre in Armenia is aimed at revealing prejudices in
the two societies. Polls conducted among 1,200 respondents in Turkey
and 1,000 respondents in Armenia suggest that Turks and Armenians know
little about each other.
TESEV and HASA, which conducted the study over a two-year period,
include in the conclusions of their report the following assessment
which is very important in terms of the resolution of the Armenian
problem:
“The two neighbouring nations do not know each other. Armenians hold
more unequivocal and negative views about Turkey. Despite these
adversities both countries have the psychological foundation necessary
for a dialogue.”
The study shows that the people of Turkey and Armenia are seriously
ignorant about each other. For example, 17 per cent of the respondents
from Turkey believe that Armenians are Jewish.
Another area of ignorance is related to the government forms in the
two countries. For example 13.5 per cent of the respondents from
Turkey are certain that Armenia is run by a communist
party. Conversely, 6 per cent of the Armenian respondents think that
there is still a monarchy in Turkey.
The study suggests that the Armenians are more prejudiced in terms of
their perceptions of the other side. For example, while 68.7 per cent
of Armenians describe Turks with derogatory adjectives, only 34 per
cent of Turks think the same way about Armenians.
Another piece of information that echoes mutual prejudices is that
94.1 per cent of the Armenian respondents and 68 per cent of the
Turkish respondents would not allow their daughters to marry a man
from the other group. Similarly 67 per cent of Armenians said they
would not trust a Turkish doctor compared to 24 per cent of Turks who
said they would not trust an Armenian doctor.
The TESEV-HASA study also seeks answers for the future relations of
the two countries. Approximately 30 per cent of Armenians think that
“prejudices on both sides are blocking relations”. The corresponding
figure for Turkish respondents is 24 per cent.
The most dominant view shared by 37.4 per cent of Armenian respondents
and 30.8 per cent of Turkish respondents is that “relations will
remain as they are now in the near future”. In addition, 81.7 per cent
of Armenians see the “genocide” issue as the most important hurdle
blocking the normalization of relations. In contrast only 19 per cent
of Turks see genocide allegations as the biggest obstacle blocking
relations.