70% of Armenians want good relations with Turkey

At first glance, this high figure from a study by the International Republican Institute may seem surprising. However, the study also states that ninety percent of Armenians see Turkey as the greatest political and economic threat. This dichotomy is due to developments after the 2020 ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

At the end of 2021, negotiations to establish diplomatic relations between the countries still seemed to be on track. Although Turkey openly supported the aggression against Armenia at the time and stirred up negative emotions, the majority of the Armenian population hoped for a normalisation of Armenian-Turkish relations after the war.

The reasons were practical: good relations with Turkey would provide more security and less dependence on Russia for the isolated country in view of the economic blockade since the 1990s. But with the military escalation between Armenia and Azerbaijan after 2020 and Turkey's negative rhetoric in support of Azerbaijan, scepticism is growing among the Armenian population.