AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
Dec 17 2009

Russians favor Aliyev over Armenia’s Sarkisian: poll

17-12-2009 07:48:28

Russians have more confidence in Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
than in Armenian leader Serzh Sarkisian – 6% against 3%, a recent poll
has found.
Respondents in the poll, conducted in 42 Russian regions in November,
placed Sarkisian just a point above Ukrainian President Viktor
Yushchenko, who has strained relations with the Kremlin. However,
people in Russia tend to see Armenia, which supports Moscow’s stance
on a variety of issues, as their country’s reliable partner on the
world stage, putting Armenia above Azerbaijan. The conclusions were
made in the survey of 1,600 people, commissioned by the All-Russia
Center for Public Opinion Studies to study the extent of the Russians’
confidence in other CIS states and their leaders.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict for nearly two decades.
According to the poll, the highest approval rating in Russia is
enjoyed by the people of Belarus and their President Alexander
Lukashenko, while the least confidence was expressed in Georgia and
its President Mikheil Saakashvili.*