GARABAGH ARMENIANS FACE DEPLORABLE LIVING STANDARDS: POLL

AzerNews Weekly
July 15 2009
Azerbaijan

Armenians living in Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, an Azeri region under
Armenian occupation, are facing deplorable living standards, a recent
survey has found.

According to the study, surveying 1,250 people by the local Khankandi
Press Club with the financial aid of Friedrich Ebert Foundation,
63.2% of Garabagh Armenians consider their socio-economic conditions
unbearable. 71.4% of respondents admitted they would leave Upper
Garabagh as soon as the opportunity presents itself. 58% of those
polled explained their desire to migrate to earn a better living,
while 47.2% voiced a desire to leave because of social injustices that
prevail there, 16.3% due to the threat of a resumption of hostilities
between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and 8.7% for political reasons.

68.3% of respondents blamed the deplorable living conditions on the
former leader of the separatist regime, Arkadi Gukasian. However,
they acknowledged that the incumbent regime in Khankandi, the center
of the self-proclaimed Upper Garabagh republic, is not pursuing a
proper policy either.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress