Saturday, February 11, the Place de la République, in Paris, is full of people. Thousands of demonstrators are gathered against the pension reform. In the middle of the crowd, three men stand out; one of them is holding a sign with the inscription in capital letters: “European Union, United States, stop financing the war in Ukraine”.
Less than a month later, on March 5, the same man stood in Place Saint-Pierre, in the 18e district of Paris. This time, he gives a Nazi salute in front of banners with the colors of the Ukrainian flag, which read “Erdogan, the earthquake is the price to pay for welcoming Russian tourists”. As in the first event, the whole thing is captured by a camera, then published on the social networks Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.
The world was able to trace more than a dozen stocks of the same order in several European capitals. Each time, the awkward message broadcast aims to discredit Ukraine, the European Union or Turkey. We find the same pseudo-protesters and the same type of publications on social networks. At the maneuver of this operation: the Russian intelligence services.
Burn the Turkish flag or tag slogans
The worldin partnership with the Russian opposition online media Center Folder and European media DR, Suddeutsche Zeitung, NRK, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Expressen, SVTDelfi and German public companies WDR/NRDobtained and authenticated documents written by members of the Russian intelligence services.
One of the documents, titled “Anti-Erdogan Project”, comments on the relations between Turkey and Europe. The Russian services believe that the ” Türkiye and the countries of the European Union are experiencing significant tensions » and mention the « tough diplomatic maneuvering between Turkey and Sweden following the suspension of the Scandinavian country’s NATO membership process. The author also asserts that there is, in Europe, a ” growing anti-Islam sentiment “.
To play on this ” feeling “the report recommends asking “ local residents or migrants » to film themselves burning a Turkish flag or tagging slogans “insulting Erdogan” in several cities (Paris, The Hague, Brussels, Frankfurt).
According to a European intelligence agent specializing in this type of operation (who prefers to remain anonymous), a project of this nature is quite plausible. “Part of the Russian disinformation campaigns is to rely on real tensions, such as those that already exist between Turkey and Germany or between Turkey and France, in this type of hybrid warfare”he explains.
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