In the wake of the announcement of Azerbaijani student Farid Safarli’s release from imprisonment in Iran, a sudden surge of activity from a troll army, allegedly controlled by certain foreign entities, has been observed on Facebook pages, as noted by numerous social media users and media organizations.
According to Report, following the joint statement by Azerbaijan’s State Security Service and Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding Farid Safarli’s return to his homeland, a plethora of newly created fake profiles of unknown origin began flooding Facebook pages that shared the news with identical comments. These comments primarily asserted that “despite Farid Safarli’s alleged espionage activities, he was well-treated in the country where he was detained and was returned to Azerbaijan, even though he did not deserve it.”
However, information obtained from Safarli’s relatives reveals that Safarli, the student of the German university, who had been imprisoned in Iran for two years, was not released unconditionally. Instead, he was exchanged for an Iranian spy who had been imprisoned in Azerbaijan, highlighting Azerbaijan’s commitment to its citizens’ well-being. As stated in the official announcement by Azerbaijani state bodies, this exchange was carried out within the framework of a mutual procedure.
In light of this, it would be advisable for these opportunistic amateur technologists, who attempt to ideologically interfere in Azerbaijan’s social media segment with countless trolls, to recognize the absurdity of their actions in the eyes of the Azerbaijani people.
