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The Kremlin-affiliated Storm-1516 bot network has been disseminating an orchestrated fabrication on X since May 28 through approximately 20 accounts. The network falsely claims that Armenia has reached an agreement with the European Union to host 250,000 Muslim migrants.
“In a desperate attempt to strengthen ties with the European Union, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has committed to making the country a place of residence for 250,000 Muslim migrants who have failed to integrate into European societies,” states a video circulated by the network.
The video is based on an article published on the Turkish website Ulusal, authored under the byline of Aziz Yerganian. The piece alleges that following the European Political Community Summit held in Armenia in May 2026, Armenia and the European Union signed a series of agreements obligating Yerevan to host 250,000 undocumented Muslim refugees.
In reality, Armenia has signed no such agreement with the European Union and has not undertaken any documentary obligation to host undocumented migrants.
A Non-Existent Author on Perinçek’s Website
The author of the article published on the Turkish website appears as an individual with an Armenian surname, Aziz Yerganian.
Weeks ago, while addressing another false report on this same Turkish website falsely claiming that a bill protecting Islam was submitted for adoption in Armenia, the Fact Investigation Platform (FIP.am) reported that the website and its homonymous TV channel are linked to the Turkish nationalist and Kemalist Homeland Party (Vatan Partisi) and its leader, Doğu Perinçek, who is a prominent figure in the Armenian Genocide denialist movement.
At that time as well, the author of the article appeared with the same Armenian surname. FIP.am was unable to find any data or previous publications by an author with this name in open sources.
Furthermore, the platform revealed that the alleged author’s picture does not portray a real person but is an AI-generated deepfake.
In fact, this marks the second instance where a fake article about Armenia, published on a website affiliated with a Turkish nationalist, has been attributed to a non-existent author and systemically circulated on X by a Kremlin bot network.
Nane Manasyan
