On May 15, MPG LLC, the Armenian representative of Gallup International Association, published the results of an extraordinary survey about the “Tavush for the Motherland” movement. According to the survey, 53% of the respondents positively evaluated the movement led by Archbishop Bagrat, while 34% evaluated it negatively. Approximately 52% of the respondents assessed the protesters’ behavior positively, whereas 37% evaluated it negatively.

It is noteworthy that the head of the research company, Aram Navasardyan, attended the press conference to summarize the survey results alongside Edgar Ghazaryan. Edgar Ghazaryan is also a supporter of the “Tavush for the Motherland” movement and the leader of the “Together” movement, which took to the streets to demand Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation.

 

 Armenian “Gallup” activities

Gallup International Association is often confused with the internationally recognized Gallup Inc.The website of the “MPG” company operating in Armenia includes a note stating that Gallup International Association is not affiliated with Gallup Corporation. The company requests that their research be credited to Gallup International rather than Gallup or the Gallup Poll.

Despite this, journalists and news outlets continue to disseminate the results of the Gallup International Association poll under the name Gallup.

Lately, “MPG” has been actively conducting polls and hosting press conferences. It’s worth noting that along with the organization’s leader, Aram Navasardyan, various politicians and political scientists who hold opposing political views and criticize the current government appear at press conferences as speakers. The questions they provide are also featured in the research questionnaire. Aram Navasardyan and the invited political scientists openly criticize the current authorities and do not hesitate to express their political stance on various issues when presenting the results of sociological surveys.

The results of the “Political Cystitis” poll were presented on May 3. The poll covered internal politics, May 9, the idea of counting the victims of genocide, and other related issues. Aram Navasardyan, the head of the organization, and political scientist Alen Ghevondyan presented the report during a press conference. They expressed their opposition to the demarcation and demarcation process in Tavush. Alen Ghevondyan is also a supporter of the “Tavush for the Motherland” movement.

The selected questions included: Under what circumstances would you take to the streets to fight for a change of power? 36.8% of the respondents said they would not participate under any circumstances, 23.4% said they would engage if new territories were handed over to Azerbaijan, and 22.5% said they would initiate actions in the event of a new war.

To the question of whether people are ready to co-exist with Azerbaijanis if international structures guarantee peace and security, 75.7% of respondents answered “definitely no,” while 6.2% answered “yes.”

On April 3, the survey results were published under the title “AntiPuzzle,” covering questions about border demarcation in the Tavush region, political prisoners, and the work of the RA Prime Minister. Navasardyan presented the results alone.

54% of respondents gave a positive answer to the question, “Are there currently political prisoners in RA?” 47.5% of them mentioned Armen Ashotyan, 26.1% Mamikon Aslanyan, and 12.1% Narek Samsonyan.

About 67% of respondents answered negatively to the question “Will the current authorities be able to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan under acceptable terms that are in the interests of Armenia?” Only 8.7% believed they would be capable.

On March 14, the company released the survey findings titled “French Kiss”. The topics discussed included internal politics, security, CSTO-Armenia, France’s military-political support, and issues related to the 36th anniversary of the Artsakh movement. Navasardyan held a press conference alongside civil technologist Vigen Hakobyan, who openly supports Archbishop Bagrat’s movement and criticizes the current government.

During the survey, 35.3% of the respondents indicated that the challenging political situation resulted from the government’s incompetent management, while 29.9% believed external forces deliberately created it.

Political scientists Beniamin Matevosyan and Tevan Poghosyan participated in compiling the questionnaire. The latter has publicly criticized the current government, while Benyamin Matevosyan is involved in the opposition movement.

The unmasked political bias of the “MPG” leader and survey participants casts doubt on the survey’s impartiality.

Who is the director of MPG?

Aram Navasardyan has been overseeing MPG since 2003, managing research, marketing, and business activities.

Navasardyan serves as the president of the Armenian Association of Marketing NGO, located at the same address as MPG on Baghramyan 2/28. This organization conducts research, provides consultations, and offers training and seminars.

Navasardyan held a 33% stake in Karam LLC from 2009 to 2018, a company involved in retailing tableware and kitchen accessories. Karen Bezoyan has owned Karam LLC since 2018.

Karen Bezoyan is the son of Eduard Bezoyan. According to CivilNet, Eduard Bezoyan is one of Robert Kocharyan’s associates. He was the head of the road construction projects office at the Linsey Foundation. In recent years, he has participated in numerous state tenders with his company, Road Builder LLC, and emerged as a successful bidder.

Navasardyan was the sole shareholder of Zwilling LLC from 2008 to 2018, during which the company was involved in retailing non-food products. Later, he transferred his shares to his brother, Alik Navasardyan.