ArmInfo. According to a survey conducted by the Institute for Political and Sociological Consulting (IPSC), 48% of the citizens of Artsakh come out for the country's independence, 46.2% - for unification of Artsakh and Armenia, 4.3% - for Artsakh's autonomy inside Armenia, 0.5% - for joining Russia, and 0.1% - for retention of the current status.
Hovhannes Grigoryan, Head of IPSC, said that the survey was conducted in July 2016 and its findings differ from those of the survey held in March 2015, when 35.1 of the citizens of Artsakh campaigned for the country's independence, 56.6% - for unification of Artsakh and Armenia, 7.1% - for Artsakh's autonomy inside Armenia, 1.1% - for joining Russia, and 0.1% - for retention of the current status. He noted that as compared to March, the residents of Artsakh started trusting the authorities less. In particular, 15.2% of the NKR citizens do not believe that the authorities do their best to develop the country, whereas in March that indicator made up 9.2 %. 28.6% fully trust the authorities, whereas this indicator in March was 39.7%.
Frank Engel, Member of the European Parliament and member of European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA), noted that the Artsakh citizens' position on the need to recognize the republic does not change. He thinks despite the criticism against the authorities, the population of Artsakh is loyal to the authorities and supports their foreign policy.
Diogo Pinto, Director of EuFoA, pointed out that he is glad to see the resoluteness of the NKR population despite Azerbaijan's aggression and attempts to destabilize the situation. He urged the international community and particularly the EU not to disappoint the people of Artsakh and to keep exerting pressure on Azerbaijan, demonstrating that that there is no alternative to peaceful settlement and that new ceasefire violations are totally unacceptable.
To note, the survey interviewed 1081 families throughout Artsakh.