Expert: Azerbaijan`s disinformation campaign aims to portray Armenia   as  unprepared for normalizing relations  

ArmInfo. Azerbaijan's goal is not to sign any agreement with Armenia, but to create the illusion of unpreparedness for normalization of relations with the international  community through its disinformation campaign. Thus, Baku is  preparing for another aggression. Armen Petrosyan, an expert at the  Orbeli Center, stated this during a press conference in Yerevan on  March 24.

As Petrosyan explained, the statements made by the Azerbaijani  Defense Ministry claiming that the Armenian army is shelling  Azerbaijani positions are intended to nullify the positive signals  coming from various countries regarding the completion of  negotiations on a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan.  According to the expert, Armenia has made every effort  to complete  the negotiations on the draft peace treaty, and these efforts have  been duly assessed by the international community.

Petrosyan is confident that Azerbaijan, by refusing to sign any  document, is putting forward new conditions, which include changes to  the Constitution of Armenia. He also  noted that Baku understands the  complexity of this demand, as it is a labor-intensive process that  requires a certain amount of time, plus it is an issue on the  country's domestic political agenda. He noted that the implementation  of this requirement could potentially generate  some backlash, both  within society as a whole and specifically among opposition forces.

The expert is confident that by making impossible demands, the  Azerbaijani authorities are trying to create an impression in the  international community that Yerevan is incapable of negotiations and  is preparing for revenge. "Their goal is to show that regardless of  how the international community perceives the process of establishing  relations between Yerevan and Baku, this is a false idea, since  Armenia is not ready and does not want to establish relations with  Azerbaijan," Petrosyan added. Addressing the spread of disinformation  by the Azerbaijani side about the alleged violation of the ceasefire  regime by the Armenian Armed Forces, which was refuted, including by  the EU mission observers in the country, the expert noted that amidst  many other problems and conflicts in the region, international  experts do not see a significant risk of escalation.

 According to him, the international expert community sees this only  as part of Azerbaijan's propaganda campaign. Petrosyan believes that  Azerbaijan's current actions  are aimed at provoking retaliatory  actions from Armenia in order to use this for their own propaganda  purposes. He admitted that Armenia is significantly behind Azerbaijan  in the information campaign. According to him, among other things,  this is due to lack of opposition in Azerbaijan, and everything is in  the hands of the ruling regime. "We also need to unite, as they do in  Azerbaijan,  with the involvement of professional circles and  representatives of the diaspora to leverage  independent media for  promoting alternative narratives," he added.