On April 1, 2021, Ramaz Nozadze, who ran in the 2017 municipal elections as an independent candidate from Khashuri constituency, uploaded a video on his Facebook page, noting in its caption that this is a game named “What will happen if the war begins between Turkey and Georgia.” Ramaz Nozadze claims that the video shows what Turkey is dreaming about. The post has more than 1,100 shares.
Besides Ramaz Nozadze, the video was uploaded by Facebook profile Lu Ka and Facebook page Azimutაზიმუტი on April 5 and April 6, respectively.
The information as if the video depicts Turkey’s plans in Georgia is manipulative. In fact, the video is not a computer game, but rather an animated video created by an individual and it involves a hypothetical scenario about beginning the war between the two countries. The same user also spreads identical hypothetical scenarios on YouTube in respect of other countries, noting that he is doing it for entertainment purposes only.
channel Cem Algül is the primary source of the video. The video was uploaded on January 2, 2021 with the following title: Turkey vs Georgia┇War Scenario. The material is not a video game. It is an animated video created by channel owner, Cem Algül. According to the video description, “this video was taken in a state of war issues that may arise between Turkey and Georgia” and that it is “a one-on-one battle scenario.” The author cites the following hypothetical incident as the reason behind unleashing the war: villagers from Artvin were chopping wood to burn in winter, when they unknowingly crossed the Georgian border and brought some of the dried up trees from the Machakhela National Park. The Georgian side demanded the Turkish villagers’ punishment, but the Turkish side refused to do it. Then the author of the video compares military forces of the two countries with each other and discusses the progress of war. Eventually, the sides reached an agreement, according to which Georgia had to pay USD 1 billion in compensation, but instead of this compensation, Georgia ceded Batumi to Turkey.
It is noteworthy that YouTube channel Cem Algül has uploaded several videos with the same content covering possible war scenarios between Turkey and other countries, as well as unification of countries and other issues.
Myth Detector contacted Cem Algül who said that he writes hypothetical war scenarios for his personal YouTube channel, then prepares animated materials and publishes them. He also noted that this particular video was created upon subscribers’ request. He has also created identical videos covering possible wars between Iran and Turkey. The video is available on his channel. Moreover, one of the videos created by Cem Algül offers a scenario about what would happen if the UK and Turkey swapped their geographic locations.
“It is not a real war. It has been created for entertainment purposes and I indicated in its title that it is a scenario,” Cem Algül says.
In addition, a video titled “İf Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan United?” has been uploaded on the same YouTube channel. The video focuses on geographical, military and economic power of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan in case of their unification. Speaking about the video, Cem Algül says that “I would not create the video if I did not do it for entertainment purposes, if I did not love Georgia.”
About Azimutაზიმუტი
Facebook page Azimutაზიმუტი was created on February 1, 2021. The page with the same name and logo already existed previously, but Facebook removed it. The previous page was created on December 19, 2017 and it was administered from Georgia, France and Russia. The page was known for spreading anti-Western disinformation. Presently, Azimutაზიმუტი spreads anti-Turkish manipulative content.
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