Poll: 17% of Armenians think Russia provoked 4-day war in Karabakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - 17% of Armenians think Russia instigated the 4-day clashes in Nagorno Karabakh in early April, a survey conducted by the Gallup International showed.

The respondents had the opportunity to choose one or multiple options from a list of possible answers.

According to the majority of respondents, the 4-day war in early April was provoked by a 3rd-party nation.

81.3% believe that Turkey instigated the hostilities, 33% said Azerbaijan started the war on its own initiative, while some 14.5% blamed the United States.

According to Gallup International's Armenia office chief Aram Navasardyan, 86.4% of Armenians think that the purchase of new military equipment can eliminate the recurrence of April hostilities.

Some 38.1% said that the recurrence can be avoided by fighting corruption in the army, 29% called for raising the soldiers' combat readiness, while some 20.5% said that more contract servicemen were needed in the armed forces.

The vast majority – 85.1% - learned about the military hostilities from television, some 44% from Facebook, another 43.8% from the general public, 19.7% from Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan's Facebook page, and only 15.1% of the respondents got the information from news websites.

The survey was conducted after the 4-day war – between May 13 and 24 – and included 1106 adults from around Armenia.