The propaganda war overshadows real fighting

Local battles around the border heights on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border stopped in mid-July, but the propaganda war is gaining strength. Both sides recognize the importance of presenting the results of the battles in a favorable light to their societies. At the same time, the interpretation of events is placed above the real situation. In  his speech at a government meeting on July 23 the Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan  assessed the battles on July 12-16, not only as a military, but also a moral and psychological victory of the Armenian army.

He skillfully bypasses the question of the fate of the border heights, claiming Azerbaijan tried to seize them, but was rejected. He said that Azerbaijan suffered serious losses in the latest types of weapons and personnel; the Armenian troops used new fighting drones and radio-electronic warfare; the international community condemned Azerbaijan's threats to bomb the Metsamor nuclear power plant; the lessons of April 2016 were not in vain, and that now Armenia will dictate terms in the negotiations. This behavior of the Armenian side is not surprising, but there are reasonable questions about the organization of propaganda from the Azerbaijani side.

We still have not received answers to the questions what happened on July 12. How and where was the UAZ gunned down with the Azerbaijani military? Why did high-ranking officers, led by the general, die the next day? Why do not they show on the map the altitude where the battles took place? Where are the more than 100 killed Armenians that the leadership of the Ministry of Defense is talking about?

Listening to the speeches of our officials and semi-officials, one gets the impression that their main task is to bypass all these issues. It should be noted that, unlike April 2016, the Armenian side prepared its propaganda steps in advance. This was expressed not so much in the interpretation of the battles as in the interpretation of the results. The statement about the "breakthrough" of the UAZ into the Armenian territory and the abandonment of it by the Azerbaijani military, who then decided to return, looked stupid.

If the Azerbaijani side showed everything on the map, admitting that the Armenians simply shot the car with the military and took one of the posts, everything would fall into place. Sending high-ranking military personnel to the front lines also raises questions. According to military experts, sending a general to the front line is unacceptable. The chief of staff of the formation must command and coordinate the battles. The same goes for the chief of artillery.

Where exactly and from what type of weapon were they hit, or was their vehicle hit?

While we were looking for answers to these questions, the Armenians trumpeted to the whole world that they had taken "Garagaya" and were looking at the depth of the territory of Azerbaijan for 20 km.

When this height was repulsed, the joy of what happened was dissolved in the statement of the Ministry of Defense that the Armenians did not take the height and all this is a lie.

Well, if they did not take it, why were four soldiers shot in the UAZ, why did four senior officers die, and then more soldiers?

Modern war is largely based on misinformation and disorientation of the enemy. Here initiative plays no less a role than a military attack.  From recent events, we can conclude that the Armenian side was preparing for this and it had homework. Why the Armenians needed this is a different question, but today’s statement of  Pashinyan gives a definite answer to this.

A number of Russian analysts believe that after coming to power, Pashinyan needed time to consolidate power and that he imitated a softening of Yerevan's position in the negotiations. By giving Pashinyan time to strengthen his power, Baku missed the chance to win at the front.

Now the Armenian side is again putting on the forefront the demand to create a strengthened OSCE monitoring system on the contact line, which Baku has long opposed.

It also became clear that the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan should restructure its propaganda work, involve serious specialists in this, such as security analysts, social networks and disinformation.

If the military intelligence service had been closely following the Armenian segment of the Internet, it would not have missed the interview of the famous Armenian military, who stated several months ago, “The heights around the village of Movses must be taken. When? Let the Ministry of Defense decide. "

Our military should not have missed the appointment of an adviser to the chief of the Armenian General Staff of a specialist in the field of military-political disinformation. The main conclusion that we need to draw from the Tovuz battles is that the world community consists not only of AZTV viewers. -0-