Attitude of young people in Azerbaijan towards other countries - Poll

“Agora” Analytical Team conducted a public opinion poll among people under the age of 35 living in different regions of the country. 400 respondents took part in the survey. The main purpose of the study is to study the attitude of the young population of Azerbaijan towards various countries, economic and political associations. As part of the survey, the thoughts of the respondents regarding the Karabakh conflict were studied.

Respondents were asked to express their attitude towards 14 countries. The respective response options were defined as "very much", "like", "neutral", "dislike" and "not at all". An analysis of their answers shows that the top three countries with the most positive attitude of young people towards Azerbaijan are Turkey (82%), Great Britain (71%) and Germany (71%). Note that a positive attitude is understood as the sum of the answer options “I like it very much” and “I like it”.

The fact that Ukraine is the 4th country with the most positive attitude of the survey participants indicates the growing support for the latter among the youth of Azerbaijan after the occupation of Ukraine by Russia. If 64% of the respondents said that they have a positive attitude towards Ukraine, then the proportion of those who have this attitude towards Russia is only 17%, by four times lower. More than half of the young people who took part in the survey - 51% - expressed their attitude towards Russia with the answer "I don't like it" or "I don't like it at all." According to this indicator, Russia is in the top three countries with the most negative attitude of respondents. However, one of the most remarkable points is the difference in respondents' attitudes towards Russia, depending on their place of residence.

The least positive feedback from respondents was received not by Armenia, which has been at war with Azerbaijan for 30 years, but by the country's southern neighbor, Iran. While 5% of survey participants said they have a positive view of Armenia, the same figure for Iran is only 4%. These two countries are less positive than others, respectively, with the largest number of negative response options, i.e. “dislike” and “dislike at all”. 78% of respondents stated that they have a negative attitude towards Armenia, and 72% - towards Iran.

Also recently, a negative attitude towards France has formed in the Azerbaijani society, which expressed a critical position towards Azerbaijan regarding the Karabakh conflict. The share of respondents who positively assess France (34%) is two times lower than in the UK and Germany. Also, 37% of respondents said they have a negative attitude towards France. Thus, after Armenia, Iran and Russia, France has become the country to which young people have the most negative attitude.

From the respondents' answers to the question - "Which of the following persons would you like Azerbaijan to enter into a political union with?" - it is clear that among the country's youth, those who support rapprochement with the European Union (EU) are significantly higher than supporters of rapprochement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). While 61% of them supported EU accession, only 3% supported EAEU accession. 20% of the survey participants, that is, one in five young people, said they had no opinion on this issue. And this result can be seen as an indicator of the low level of youth confidence in the main foreign actors or the low level of awareness about them.

Answering the question - "Which of the listed countries do you consider an ally of Azerbaijan?", most often respondents choose Turkey, Pakistan, Israel, Ukraine and Georgia. Despite the positive attitude towards European countries, as well as the support of the absolute majority of the country's population for rapprochement with the European Union, not a single Western country is considered by the dominant part of the population as an ally.

From the answers to the question - "Which of the listed countries do you consider a threat to the security of Azerbaijan?" - it is clear that the country that is seen as the biggest threat to the country's security among the youth of Azerbaijan is not Armenia, but Russia. 81% of respondents consider Russia a threat to Azerbaijan's security. As for Armenia and Iran, which share the following places, their performance is close to each other. Speaking recently with a common position with Armenia has led to the fact that about a third of young people see this country as a threat to the national security of Azerbaijan. It is curious that if 8% of respondents consider the US an ally of Azerbaijan, then 17% of them consider the US a threat to Azerbaijan's security. The relatively high result recorded for India may be related to the Karabakh conflict. It should be noted that India is one of the arms exporters to Armenia.

As part of the survey, respondents under the age of 35 were also asked about their opinion on the Karabakh conflict. Being asked "Do you believe that the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia will be resolved in the coming years?", the majority of young people have a pessimistic opinion about the soon end of the conflict. 52% of respondents said they do not believe in the resolution of the conflict in the coming years. Only 23% of respondents believe that the conflict will be resolved in the coming years.

Most respondents do not expect normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the coming years, but they want it. Thus, analysis of the answer to the question - "Do you support the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia?" - shows that 62% of those polled are in favor of normalizing relations.

Although the survey participants are in favor of normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the vast majority of them - 59% - do not consider the coexistence of Azerbaijanis and Armenians in Karabakh possible. 26% consider it possible, while 15% are undecided.

The majority of young people are unanimous on the issue of granting the Karabakh Armenians some kind of status within Azerbaijan. Three-quarters of the respondents said they did not support granting the Karabakh Armenians any status within Azerbaijan. Only 10% were positive about granting the status, while 14% found it difficult to answer.