A Turkish propagandist “cancels” April 24 — some Armenian users believed it

Since April 21, claims have been circulating across the Armenian social media alleging that the current Armenian authorities are planning to cancel public events dedicated to the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

“On April 17, it became known that the Armenian government is developing a package of measures that would fully cancel the organisation of public events dedicated to the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, traditionally held on April 24,” conductor and public figure Vardan Hakobyan wrote on Facebook on April 21.

A similar claim was also published by the Facebook page “Lurer Hayastan,” with a link to the website meknaban.am.

The information was further shared by a number of other users.

However, the original source of these claims is Turkish journalist Okay Deprem, who has repeatedly published false information about Armenia in recent months. The claims presented in the article have no factual basis.

How the false claim spread

On April 18, Deprem published an article on the platform veryansintv[.]com, claiming that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is preparing radical changes related to the topic of the Armenian Genocide.

The article provides no evidence or credible sources. Instead, it states that “claims are circulating” that the Armenian government is planning several steps regarding the format, scale, and content of the April 24 commemorations.

“If these claims are true, then starting from 2027, certain public events in Yerevan may be revised, including the traditional annual march to the Tsitsernakaberd memorial, attended by thousands,” the article states.

These claims do not reflect reality. Visiting Tsitsernakaberd on April 24 is a spontaneous act and is not organized as a march by the state or any other institution. If referring to the torchlight procession held on April 23, it is also not a state-organised event but is organised by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and took place as usual. 

Without presenting any evidence, Deprem also claims that the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex may be partially reconstructed:

“There are views suggesting that the current ‘Armenian Genocide Museum’ could be transformed into an institution resembling a ‘Museum of Armenian History.’”

Notably, although Deprem refers only to unspecified “views,” some Armenian sources that repeated his narrative—without mentioning him—presented these unsubstantiated claims as concrete plans already being prepared for implementation.

Spread of unverified claims on social media

Videos repeating Deprem’s claims have circulated on X since April 20. These videos, featuring English subtitles and AI-generated voiceovers, repeat the same assertions made in the article.

At the same time, the videos do not reference the original source, journalist Deprem. Instead, they use the label “HY news,” which cannot be linked to any known or registered media outlet.

In the past two days, these videos have been shared by at least 15 bot-like accounts, indicating coordinated dissemination.

Armenia as a target

In recent months, Deprem has consistently spread unfounded and false claims about Armenia. Previously, he alleged that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had, at the request of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, ordered the construction of 10 mosques in Armenia.

The investigative initiative Gnida Project, which focuses on exposing Russian disinformation campaigns, has repeatedly identified Deprem as a Russia-based propagandist of Turkish origin. He is particularly involved in the Russian disinformation campaign known as Storm-1516.

Photos of Deprem circulating online also show him alongside Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

According to earlier reporting by Fip.am, Deprem lived for years in Luhansk, obtained local citizenship, and has consistently promoted Russian propaganda narratives in his publications and interviews.