It all started not yesterday but as early as November 17, a record appeared on the telegram channel of the famous Russian military commissar Semyon Pegov, announcing the start of a large-scale information campaign by Azerbaijan in Russia. Threats from Azerbaijanis began to arrive massively on Pegov’s phone. And Azerbaijani users “attacked” Semyon Pegov in this way not for the first time. During the 44-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh, the military commissar told in detail and showed everything that happens on the border. He also often spoke with civilians who were forced to spend the night in shelters. But the Azerbaijanis could not “forgive” Pegov’s sympathy for the inhabitants of Artsakh.

About Azerbaijani xenophobia

Intoxicated with success, Aliyev, despite his many thousands of losses in manpower, opened the infamous “Trophy Park”. All the exhibits were dedicated to the dead Armenian soldiers, mostly 18-year-old young guys. Wax figures, which allegedly showed the ugliness of Armenians, gained popularity. Aliyev himself even took a picture with them. The helmets of the Armenian guys with the “blood” that has not yet dried up have become an object for the avatars of Azerbaijani users.

It is not strange that the Azerbaijani authorities thought of opening such a park, it is strange that they were not subjected to sanctions by the international community. But the Armenian soldiers were simple guys who fought for their homeland, and not representatives of sexual minorities. Perhaps that is why a tolerant society allowed them to be mocked, innocent and pure.

“Patriotism” of Baku consisted in beating wax figures and bullying.

The reaction of representatives of international organizations and politicians was not long in coming, however, the condemnations were unconvincing and therefore could not prevent the Azerbaijanis from continuing their propaganda.

Returning to Pegov’s topic: the military commissar “didn’t please” the brave Azerbaijani netizens fighting for “justice”. According to him, in just one minute he was recruited by 500 Azerbaijanis. What is this if not persecution?

Based on this, it can be assumed that Baku is not particularly embarrassed to translate the bilateral conflict  into the territory of a third state. Pegov himself is of the same opinion.

And he is right: The selectivity of Azerbaijani propaganda has never known boundaries.

November 24, 2021. Azerbaijani provocateurs, provoking Russian society for a week without a year, crossed into the territory of Greece. Here, their local community decided to remind everyone of their successes in the Armenian-Azerbaijani war. On buses and bus stops, Greek Armenians noticed supposedly advertising posters depicting cities that came under the control of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces after the war. The inscriptions on them were no less provocative.

The short life of such a “commercial initiative” was ensured by representatives of the Armenian diaspora in Greece, who quickly closed this issue. When next time Azerbaijan plans to spend its money down the drain for the sake of two days of provocative “advertising” is unknown, but quite expected.

How else can Baku surprise us?

No matter how sad it may sound, but for the sake of their interests, they are ready to use even children. And you need to take into account the fact that for them this is a completely familiar practice. Videos are freely circulating on the net, in which barely speaking children talk about “evil and insidious” Armenians. And here there are no more unnecessary questions about the atmosphere of hatred that has been going on for years, which accompanies Azerbaijani children from childhood. And it is they who, growing up, take on the role of brave “patriotic defenders”, while being in Moscow, London or Los Angeles.

Children as a tool for promoting the political views of the Azerbaijani state to the masses

Since mid-November, information about the Junior Eurovision Song Contest has been actively disseminated in the Armenian media segment. And, as it is not difficult to guess, political “passions” reached the children – not without the participation of Baku, of course.

On behalf of its representative, Baku sent postcards to the organizers of the competition, which depicted a map of Azerbaijan. Distinguished by their characteristic developed imagination, the “artists” of the map not only included the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh there, but also “captured” some part of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia along the way.

Attempts of absolutely senseless propaganda at the children’s competition were successfully failed by the efforts of the Armenian side.

Azerbaijani provocateurs did not stop their activities in 2022 either. It all started with large-scale protests in Kazakhstan. Against the background of the tragic events in the former Soviet republic, users with Armenian names and surnames appeared on the network, who published insulting posts against the Kazakhs. In this regard, the Armenian media from time to time warned users that the Azerbaijani propaganda machine was actively working to incite anti-Armenian sentiments among the citizens of Kazakhstan.

On January 10, 2022, the Ombudsman of Nagorno-Karabakh sent a letter to Google with calls to ignore and not succumb to the provocative and unreasonable demands of Baku. Human rights activist Gegham Stepanyan emphasized that the Azerbaijanis are trying to erase the Armenian trace from Nagorno-Karabakh. That is why cultural and historical monuments disappear. In addition, Stepanyan urged to refrain from removing the Armenian toponyms of Artsakh from Google digital maps. However, as it became known on January 11, the largest company nevertheless met Azerbaijan halfway and changed some toponyms in Nagorno-Karabakh. It is known that negotiations with the corporation are currently ongoing so that in the future there will be no Armenian names on Google digital maps.

Distortion of historical facts, propaganda and provocative actions in various areas that go beyond what is permitted, and xenophobic ideology – all of the above allows people to form a clear opinion that such actions are carried out precisely with state support.

Alla Aslanyan