On July 2, a screenshot of a post allegedly made by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze concerning Russian agents and saboteurs detained in Azerbaijan was spread on Facebook. According to the screenshot, Kobakhidze offers them asylum in Georgia and calls on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to stop exhibiting Russophobia and Nazism.
A fake quote attributed to Irakli Kobakhidze about Russian agents is being spread on Facebook. Kobakhidze has not made such a statement, and the screenshot is fabricated.
The statement in which the Prime Minister of Georgia allegedly offers safe asylum to Russian agents and saboteurs detained in Azerbaijan cannot be found on his Facebook page. The quote has also not been published on the government’s official Facebook page and the website, nor has it appeared on the official page of the ruling Georgian Dream party. Moreover, no Georgian online media outlets (1;2) or TV channels (1;2) have reported on any such offer made by Irakli Kobakhidze.
The fabricated screenshot of Kobakhidze’s post began circulating amid heightened tensions between Azerbaijan and Russia. After two ethnically Azerbaijani brothers died in Russian custody, police in Baku raided the office of Sputnik and arrested employees of this Kremlin-funded media outlet. They are accused of being FSB agents. Relations between the two countries have been strained since December of last year, when an Azerbaijani passenger plane was attacked in Chechnya. The plane crash resulted in the death of 38 people.
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