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RIA Novosti, Russia
Dec 2 2004
NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT WORRIES AZERBAIJANIS
BAKU, December 2 (RIA Novosti) - According to a recent poll conducted
by the International Foundation of Election Systems funded by the US
Agency for International Development, 69% of Azerbaijanis said the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which has made hundreds of thousands of
people refugees in their own country, was the biggest problem facing
Azerbaijan. The poll was conducted June 21-July 21, 2004 with 1,620
people polled in Baku and six other urban centers.
During a meeting with International Committee of the Red Cross Baku
representative Mary Werntz, Eldar Makhmudov, chairman of the
Azerbaijani State Commission on POWs, missing persons and hostages
and a national security minister, said 1,357 Azerbaijanis were freed
from Armenian captivity in 1998-2004. He also claimed that Azerbaijan
had testimony about another 783 people being held captive in Armenia.
He noted that 4,852 Azerbaijanis had been missing since the beginning
of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an
Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan that Baku lost control over in the
late 1980s and early 1990s.
According to the survey 40% of the respondents cited unemployment,
13% cited low standards of living, 6% cited imperfect social
protection and 6 % cited economic problems as the largest problem
facing Azerbaijan.
Fifty-four percent of the respondents described the current economic
situation as good or very good, 48% expected it to improve next year
and only 7% expected it to get worse.
According to the poll, 46% of respondents think that democracy had
been established in the country, 20% did not think Azerbaijan had a
democracy and only 37% were aware of their civil rights.
Forty percent of the respondents said the ruling party, Eni
Azerbaijan, reflected the interests of citizens more completely than
other political parties.
Sixty percent of the respondents said the Azerbaijani judicial system
was no impartial. According to the respondents the most corrupt
aspects of society were medicine and education. Interestingly,
Russian surveys produce the same results. This is a common problem
for all newly independent post-Soviet states.
Twenty-five percent of the respondents said they would vote in the
municipal elections on December 17, while 33% said they might vote.
According to the respondents, the main source of information in the
county is television. In terms of popularity, 51% of the respondents
watched Russian television channels and 49% watched Turkish stations.
The most popular newspapers, the opposition newspaper Eni Musavat and
the Russian newspaper Zerkalo were each read by 7% of the
respondents.
The poll also showed that young people, 18-25, were inadequately
informed about politics and economics.
Dec 2 2004
NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT WORRIES AZERBAIJANIS
BAKU, December 2 (RIA Novosti) - According to a recent poll conducted
by the International Foundation of Election Systems funded by the US
Agency for International Development, 69% of Azerbaijanis said the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which has made hundreds of thousands of
people refugees in their own country, was the biggest problem facing
Azerbaijan. The poll was conducted June 21-July 21, 2004 with 1,620
people polled in Baku and six other urban centers.
During a meeting with International Committee of the Red Cross Baku
representative Mary Werntz, Eldar Makhmudov, chairman of the
Azerbaijani State Commission on POWs, missing persons and hostages
and a national security minister, said 1,357 Azerbaijanis were freed
from Armenian captivity in 1998-2004. He also claimed that Azerbaijan
had testimony about another 783 people being held captive in Armenia.
He noted that 4,852 Azerbaijanis had been missing since the beginning
of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an
Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan that Baku lost control over in the
late 1980s and early 1990s.
According to the survey 40% of the respondents cited unemployment,
13% cited low standards of living, 6% cited imperfect social
protection and 6 % cited economic problems as the largest problem
facing Azerbaijan.
Fifty-four percent of the respondents described the current economic
situation as good or very good, 48% expected it to improve next year
and only 7% expected it to get worse.
According to the poll, 46% of respondents think that democracy had
been established in the country, 20% did not think Azerbaijan had a
democracy and only 37% were aware of their civil rights.
Forty percent of the respondents said the ruling party, Eni
Azerbaijan, reflected the interests of citizens more completely than
other political parties.
Sixty percent of the respondents said the Azerbaijani judicial system
was no impartial. According to the respondents the most corrupt
aspects of society were medicine and education. Interestingly,
Russian surveys produce the same results. This is a common problem
for all newly independent post-Soviet states.
Twenty-five percent of the respondents said they would vote in the
municipal elections on December 17, while 33% said they might vote.
According to the respondents, the main source of information in the
county is television. In terms of popularity, 51% of the respondents
watched Russian television channels and 49% watched Turkish stations.
The most popular newspapers, the opposition newspaper Eni Musavat and
the Russian newspaper Zerkalo were each read by 7% of the
respondents.
The poll also showed that young people, 18-25, were inadequately
informed about politics and economics.