From November 11 to 22, the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, will host the UN Climate Change Conference, more commonly known as COP29. As the largest and most significant event in the world focused on environmental protection, this forum will gather tens of thousands of guests in Baku, including experts at various levels, representatives of government agencies, and heads of state.
Hosting such large-scale events is not only a point of pride for the host country but also a significant challenge that requires mobilization of organizational and intellectual resources. However, while addressing the various tasks associated with the forum, Azerbaijan has faced an additional political challenge. Since the summer of this year, a black PR campaign has been launched against the country. Hostile actions are being carried out through numerous methods, with the social media platform X serving as the central platform for their nefarious propaganda.
The campaign on this platform began in June of this year, and it is not difficult to notice that it is being conducted by individuals of either Armenian descent or those holding pro-Armenian positions. They systematically call on the global community to boycott COP29 for political reasons. The main objectives of the campaign are to undermine the reputation of the country, prevent the holding of COP29 in Baku, and use the conference as a means of political pressure on Azerbaijan, specifically to secure the release of military criminals of Armenian descent who are under investigation.
It is worth reminding that the detained individuals in question are accused of the following crimes committed in the territory of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan during the period of occupation by Armenia from 1992 to 2020: planning, preparing, or waging aggressive war; violating norms of international humanitarian law during armed conflicts; inaction or issuing criminal orders during armed conflict; terrorism; financing terrorism; conducting training for terrorist purposes; intentional murder; organizing a criminal community (criminal organization); and creating armed formations or groups not provided for by law.
As we can see, the list of alleged crimes is quite extensive. It is generally understood that no self-respecting country in the world will make concessions regarding the extradition of war criminals and individuals who have threatened the sovereignty and security of the state. There may be exceptions, of course, but not in this particular case. However, the Armenian diaspora and the political elite of Armenia, spoiled by decades of indulgence from the political circles of certain major powers, demand this as if it were the most normal thing in the world. As if there had not been thirty years of Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani lands, which resulted in the destruction of entire cities and villages, the annihilation of Azerbaijani cultural heritage, and ultimately acts of ethnic cleansing and genocide against Azerbaijanis.
However, impunity cannot last forever. Azerbaijan has detained the suspects, and if their guilt is proven by the investigation, the court will punish them to the full extent of the law. Despite this obvious situation, the global Armenian community, acting as mentioned above on the inertia of impunity, has energetically rushed to defend the arrested individuals.
In pursuing this goal, the participants of the black propaganda are using the main branded hashtag of the event, #COP29, and have added their own hashtags: #StopGreenwashGenocide, #FreeArmenianHostages, #FreePoliticalPrisoners.
The main organizer of this campaign is the leading organization of the global Armenian community—the Armenian National Committee (ANC) and its American branch (ANCA). It is the latter that finances and conducts these campaigns, directly participating in the preparation of materials and theses and their distribution among involved individuals. However, the ANCA uses not only its direct communication tools for this purpose. In the social media segment, where they are extremely active, several individuals position themselves as “heralds of freedom and justice,” but in reality, they act based on the material benefits promised to them by the aforementioned organizations.
As the main media mouthpiece hired by the global Armenian community to spread anti-Azerbaijani propaganda, we have a personality already well-known to our users—former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo. In an exclusive interview given to Armenianweekly.com on September 6, 2024, Ocampo admitted that three prominent representatives of the Armenian diaspora in Argentina—Judge Leon Carlos Arslanian, sociologist Juan Gabriel Tokatlian, and the vice-president of the Socialist International, Mario Nalpatian—invited him to collaborate in the summer of 2023. To be precise, it was Nalpatian who called him and asked what he could do for “Nagorno-Karabakh.” A typical beginning for a business conversation, isn’t it? However, Ocampo did not disclose the amount that this brave trio offered him. It is worth noting that as part of the anti-Azerbaijani activities that began at that time, Ocampo produced a completely false report about the alleged “genocide of the Armenian population” occurring in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
It should be noted that the aforementioned Mario Nalpatian is a member of the board of directors of the Dashnaktsutyun party (the Armenian Revolutionary Federation) and the vice-president of the ANCA. He also met with the now-imprisoned leader of the separatists, Bako Sahakyan, the so-called “president” of the fake “Nagorno Karabakh Republic.” This alone proves that Ocampo was receiving assignments directly from the ANCA and supports separatism.
Interestingly, Azerbaijan was not the first target of Ocampo’s paid activities. He previously distinguished himself with his involvement in anti-Semitic and anti-Israel campaigns. From this perspective, it seems quite coincidental that individuals actively participating in anti-Azerbaijani actions also exhibit anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views. Moreover, it is particularly glaring that the participants in this campaign are primarily supporters of Macron in France and Democrats in America—now the reason for the recent anti-Israel trends in France and the US becomes clear.
As the first tier of media support for Ocampo, the Armenian diaspora has recruited several journalists for its defamatory campaign against Azerbaijan: American Lindsey Snell, German Jonathan Spangenberg, and two individuals of Armenian descent living in France: Nara Matini and Betty Arslanian. Notably, the latter is none other than a reporter for the French state-owned France 24. This fact directly raises justified suspicions of the French government’s involvement in this PR network.
The technology of defamatory propaganda operates as follows: regularly, at specific times, pre-prepared texts and materials appear on social media platform X, based on assigned hashtags and theses, which can be seen as primary evidence of a systematic and networked approach.
There are many “activists” involved in the financial scheme of the Armenian diaspora, primarily the journalists we mentioned earlier. It is clear that all these individuals are connected and coordinated on social media. For example, Spangenberg and Ocampo mutually support each other’s posts.
There are also other clear signs of a systematic and networked approach. When you “retweet” any of Ocampo’s posts on X, an automatic message of thanks and detailed instructions on how you can further assist the cause of the global Armenian community is sent to your inbox—complete with steps, directions, and ready-made hashtags and phrases.
Moreover, information is available on the X account of the youth wing of the Dashnaktsutyun party detailing the date, time, materials, and hashtags that should be shared. Additionally, it was found that a Telegram message containing instructions for the campaign against COP29 was circulated among Armenian users. This guide mentioned the main hashtags for the COP29 campaign, the start date, and the primary objective.
With due attention, one can also uncover a group of fake profiles gathered around the main “activists” of the network pyramid. This network consists of 100-150 individuals from various representatives of the Armenian diaspora. These types of profiles attempt to make their presence known in statistics by creating their own posts, commenting, liking, and sharing messages from the aforementioned “activists.” No matter how much the owners of these profiles try to conceal their identities, their daily publications reveal which centre they belong to and whose interests they serve.
It should be noted that the authors of these pompous statuses about the “struggle for human rights” and “freedom of speech” display extreme intolerance whenever ordinary social media users ask them specific questions or provide facts that contradict their theses. In such cases, these “heralds of freedom” resort to threats and simply block inconvenient users (photos attached).
These profiles can be divided into several groups.
The first group consists of Armenians from the American diaspora. These profiles primarily publish anti-Azerbaijani materials, as well as posts related to the internal situation in the United States, which often include anti-Semitic content. Additionally, the posts also feature materials aimed against Türkiye and in support of the terrorist PKK.
The second group comprises Armenians from the French diaspora. These profiles mainly publish anti-Azerbaijani posts, as well as statuses dedicated to French political life. Similar to the American profiles, the posts also include anti-Turkish calls.
Sometimes, to conceal their network activity, representatives of the first and second groups publish irrelevant posts daily.
The third group consists of bot profiles that automatically generate anti-Azerbaijani posts based on the input provided through the system’s theses.
Azerbaijan is combating this defamation campaign using all available methods. Many of the aforementioned profiles have already been closed as a preventive measure following complaints.
Unfortunately, the dirty propaganda against Azerbaijan seeps not only into social media but also into high offices, the walls of parliaments, and the media resources of various Western countries. The Western audience, having been held captive by Armenian agitation for decades, has become accustomed to believing this deceitful propaganda, soaked in populist slogans of democracy and justice. However, anyone trying to honestly understand the issue will easily conclude that they are dealing with a product of vile propaganda, whose ideas and intentions are far from noble ideals and are primarily connected to the misanthropic ideas of Armenian ethnic exclusivity.
We urge all rational individuals not to succumb to the populist calls of activists from the Armenian diaspora or those funded by them, but to find the courage to independently investigate the history and essence of the already resolved Karabakh conflict. The Azerbaijani side is always open to discussion and willing to provide any materials on this issue.
The selection of the country as the host of the COP29 conference is a very eloquent act by the global community. It signifies that Azerbaijan has gained significant international authority, established an effective system of international relations, and, moreover, demonstrated its determination to address environmental issues.
One of the primary goals of the conference is to reconcile the interests of developed and developing countries to protect the shared environment. Azerbaijan, having achieved full restoration of its sovereignty and territorial integrity in complex geopolitical conditions, has showcased a model of strategic thinking embodied in practical actions. It is this quality of our country that makes it the right and unique venue for a global climate change forum. This quality is essential for making breakthroughs in addressing global-scale issues.
Azerbaijan has sufficient resources to host the conference at the highest level, despite all challenges and artificially created obstacles. The Armenian propaganda campaign will melt away like a wicked witch from fairy tales, and COP29 in Baku will be remembered in history. Be on the right side.
Murad Abiyev
Caliber.Az
