The Milli Majlis Temporary Commission on Countering Foreign Interference and Hybrid Threats has issued a statement on hybrid attacks against Azerbaijan.
According to Operative Information Center-OMM, the statement says that Azerbaijan’s emergence as a middle power under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, its resolute foreign policy, growing international standing, contribution to global energy security, strategic importance in regional transit corridors, and domestic political and economic stability have significantly increased the scale of hybrid attacks against the country by foreign actors.
“Against the backdrop of ongoing wars and tensions in our region, the Republic of Azerbaijan, described as an island of stability, has recently faced religious and ideological provocations, coordinated information operations and cyberattacks on an unprecedented scale and in a synchronized manner.
Under the guise of various freedoms, our people’s centuries-old national, moral and multicultural values, as well as their religious beliefs, are being targeted. Harmful activities seek to undermine the very notion of truth in society and present foreign ideologies to our people as the right path.
Joint investigations with the relevant government agencies have established that influence operations, cyberattacks and terrorist and subversive plots aimed at manipulating public opinion, polarizing society and undermining confidence in state institutions are carried out by agents of influence and clandestine organizations at home and abroad. In the digital space, they use hacker groups, foreign media outlets, real and fake accounts, as well as bots.
We regret to note that forces operating in friendly and neighboring countries and hostile to Azerbaijan are injecting disinformation into digital platforms through channels that appear independent, seeking to create ethnic, religious or political fault lines in society. Their aim is to sow discord within the country, turn citizens with differing views against one another, incite violence and weaken our state from within,” the statement said.
It noted that, through “computational propaganda,” hybrid threat actors encourage people to actively seek out, believe and share false information in the media and on social networks that supports their existing views, with the aim of misleading public opinion and deepening fragmentation in society:
“Algorithm-driven content sharing creates ‘echo chambers’, causing users to encounter only information that reflects their existing beliefs, views and worldviews. Posts designed to provoke emotional responses from our citizens are directed at large audiences through the algorithms used by digital platforms.
“In addition, the ‘filter bubble’ mechanism ensures that harmful content reaches only audiences prepared to accept it and already influenced in a particular direction. This increases the effectiveness of manipulation exponentially.
“In this environment, these actors seek to promote foreign values, undermine national stability and divide our society from within by exploiting the platforms’ own infrastructure, without resorting to conventional propaganda methods.
“Monitoring has also established that, despite the scale of malicious activities against Azerbaijan conducted from certain centers, our Victorious People have maintained a resolute stance, resisted provocations and unequivocally supported the steps taken by the state. They continue to provide necessary assistance in exposing divisive content and those behind it.
“We reiterate that the Milli Majlis Commission on Countering Foreign Interference and Hybrid Threats, its relevant committees and structural divisions of its Secretariat, together with the relevant government agencies, are successfully countering these disgraceful hybrid attacks against our state and will continue to respond to any further attempt.
“Our commission also expresses its deep gratitude for their principled positions to citizens of friendly and neighboring countries who have condemned these activities directed against Azerbaijan.”
