ARMENIANS ARE BETTER INFORMED ABOUT THEIR NEIGHBORS THAN TURKS, SOCIOLOGIST GEVORG POGHOSIAN SAYS

Noyan Tapan

F eb 23, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenians are better informed
about their direct neighbors than the Turks, sociologist Gevorg
Poghosian said, citing the results of surveys conducted by sociologists
in Armenia and Turkey in 2005. In response to the question about
famous Turks and Armenians, Armenians named more than 70 Turks, from
Abdul Hamid to Tarkan, whereas Turkish respondents only mentioned
Aznavour. According to the majority of Turks surveyed, Armenia has
a population of 7 million and land coasts of three seas.

An attempt was made to reveal through surveys how the two peoples
treat each other. In the words of G. Poghosian, the survey results
show that the majority of Armenians and Turks (about 70%) believe that
there will be no rapprochement between the two countries. "But now we
see some progress, and there are hopes that diplomatic relations will
be established, maybe the border will open, there are many maybes but
we see that there has been some progress," G. Poghosian noted, adding
that for that reason the sides show mutual interest in conducting
new studies, in particular a survey will be done in October with the
aim of finding out whether the change in Armenian-Turkish political
relations has brought about changes in social moods.

The director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the RA National
Academy of Sciences, Turkologist Ruben Safrastian expressed an
opinion that US-Turkish relations, which acquire a new quality
against the background of mutual interests, may play a great role in
Armenian-Turkish relations. In his opinion, the political platform of
safety and stability will not become a real organization in the region,
taking into account the current problems between Russia and Georgia,
and those between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress