UPDATE: A previous version of this article made reference to TRT World journalist Umar Baba having been interviewed by Pieter Friedrich. He notified Greek City Times that he is not the person in the video.
We cross checked The Disinfo Lab report to confirm whether the individual mentioned there was him or not, and at the time of publication was satisfied, particularly in reference to the chart on paragraph 16 on ‘Pieter’s Verified Followers Network’ in the Disinfo Lab report.
As far as the issue on Baba Umar vs Umar Baba is concerned, we noticed that these two names were used interchangeably and asked him to go through the following two links to confirm or deny our arguments:
https://people.bayt.com/mohammad-baba-36167532/?lang=fr
https://www.trtworld.com/author/umar.baba
We also came across the fact that there has been attempts to remove this particular individuals online footprints related to Baba Umar.
We noticed that his videos from the TRT YouTube channel have also been removed and we asked to know the reason behind this. In this regard, the following two broken links need to be looked at:
TRT interview of Baba Umar on Kashmir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EkgOdofG68
Article by Baba Umar accusing Indian army of rape: http://tehelka.com/lesson-in-irony-gallantry-award-goes-to-rape-accused/
Our sources also revealed that several anti-India propaganda pieces of his were pulled down. The following broken links:
https://www.alanahunt.net/writing-2/writing-about-alana/
Our sources have also suggested that content authored by other actors were requested for deletion after our article was published.
Prior to article, an anti-India article penned by Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir, titled ‘Comparing Kashmir with Baluchistan,’ was being promoted. Following are the details: broken link of pulled down article; the recommendation, and Hamid Mir’s tweet with broken link:
http://www.risingkashmir.com/article/comparing-kashmir-with-baluchistan
http://umarblogs.blogspot.com/2016/09/2016-uprising-101-must-read-pieces-on.html?view=flipcard
https://twitter.com/HamidMirPAK/status/768697521556324352
The rapid deletion of footprints and statements has been noted.
Asked about these details, Umar Baba told Greek City Times:
"It's not my job to teach you how to interpret my work as a journalist or why certain work links are not working years later. But, as a victim of your recent factually incorrect news article and an ordinary reader of it both, I refuse to be drawn away from the baseless and vilifying claims your article makes about me."
"The burden of proof rests solely on you, Mr Paul, because it's you making a claim, which according to me is not only hilarious but baseless and concocted as well," he continued.
"I've already declared that the person talking in the YouTube interview with Pieter Fredrick that you've centered your 'probe' on is NOT ME," he added.
In light of his denial that the person in the video is him, Greek City Times offers an unconditional apology and removed all references to the TRT journalist that were in the original edition of this article, despite his refusal to answer questions raised.
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A recent report has stirred a massive global interest towards an information war launched against New Delhi to create political instability and by converging anti-India forces within the country, as well as across the world.
A Disinfo Lab report titled ‘The Unending War: From Proxy War to Info-War” has exposed the design in which foreign elements are using the U.S. to attack India.
It has uncovered the K-2 (Kashmir-Khalistan) plan by the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI to bleed India.
The report highlights that information warfare is an integral part of the game plan and is led by Pieter Friedrich who runs a provocative organisation by the name of Organization for Indian Minorities (OFIM).
Several names have emerged in the list who have been acting as amplifiers of propaganda peddled by Pieter and OFMI, and include names of Pakistani stakeholders - from Cabinet Ministers to proxy handles of the ISI.
However, an investigation by Greek City Times has brought a different fact to light.
Our analysis has reflected that Turkey has been an integral part of this warfare and has been aiding Pakistan in its disinformation campaign against India.
One of the most prominent names revealed in the report and has been promoting Pieter Friedrich's propaganda as an ‘amplifier,' is Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις, Turkish: İstanbul) based propagandist Ali Keskin.
Sources suggest that he is the central figure responsible for coordination between the Pakistani ISI and the Turkish intelligence agency (MIT) on information warfare.
The pinned Tweet of Ali Keskin’s Twitter handle contains a picture of the Turkish and Pakistani flags and reads – “Pakistan is not alone”.
https://twitter.com/alikeskin_tr/status/1158507592395763712
It was noticed during our investigation that the war-mongering tweets made by Ali Keskin were mostly spread by Pakistani handles.
Declaring a war with Greece, UAE, Israel and France, Keskin tweeted on September 1, 2020 – “EU countries Greece. He took a combat position by supporting. Greece, UAE, France and Israel lurk. War is an art for us, we are waiting.”
https://twitter.com/alikeskin_tr/status/1300760704719491073
An analysis of the Twitter handle suggests that he has peddled hundreds of war-mongering propaganda content against the above countries.
Several investigations by news organisations have revealed that disgruntled with the emerging India-UAE ties, Ali Keskin, with the help of his amplifiers in Pakistan, began a hashtag #BoycottUAE, which became a top trending hashtag within a couple of minutes.
This was thanks to the magnification by radical Pakistanis.
Criticising the media reports, as well as confessing about his involvement in the propaganda, he tweeted – “India and the United Arab Emirates target me using the media. #BoycottUAE”.
https://twitter.com/alikeskin_tr/status/1299479925519511553
Experts of propaganda warfare have suggested that an analysis of Ali Keskin’s tweets and social media activities highlight that besides coordinating with the Pakistani propagandists, he has been assigned to hit countries targeted by Turkey.
These are primarily India, the UAE, Greece, and France.
The fact gets re-emphasised by the revelation that Pieter Friedrich has been aggressively pushing anti-India campaigns on Kashmir.
The report highlights that he is working on the K-2 (Kashmir-Khalistan) plan of the ISI, through which Khalistanis, Pakistanis, and the Turks have jointly waged a war against India.
In line with the above, the next name that emerged in the report was of a propagandist working as a foot soldier in the information war launched by Turkey-Pakistan, was California based Zahra Billoo.
Billoo runs CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations), which was listed as a terrorist entity by the United Arab Emirates in 2014.
Zahra Billoo is believed to be a strong supporter of Turkish dictator Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Caliphate project.
She has been tendering blind support to incidents of human rights abuses by the Erdoğan regime, not only within Turkey, but also elsewhere in the world.
On the massacre and mass detentions of army personnel, academics, teachers, politicians and thousands of others following the failed 2016 coup attempt, she extended her full support in attempts to cover-up the bloodshed carried out by Erdoğan and his AKP party.
Reports by non-profit organisations like Islamist Watch, as well as a couple of reports from the Pakistani media itself, reveal that Billoo has been working for the Turkish Diyanet – the Directorate of Religious Affairs.
This is the most prominent organisation tasked with radicalising the world to fulfil Erdoğan’s Caliphate dream.
Experts on Turkish affairs put forward two major logical explanations to substantiate her association with Diyanet.
First, she is very close to Sami Al Arian, who was found guilty “to make or receive contributions of funds, goods or services to or for the benefit of a Specially Designated Terrorist.”
Al Arian was later deported to Turkey and continued working for Diyanet.
Secondly, Billoo has been trying to exploit her Twitter ‘blue-tick’ to cover up the radicalisation activities carried out by Diyanet.
Through her social media accounts, she has been trying to project Diyanet as a ‘liberal’ and ‘humanitarian’ organisation.
In one of such Tweets, she wrote – “Last week, nearly two years from the date I woke up to snow on the beautiful Blue Mosque in Instabul, I had the distinct joy of waking up to snow on the Diyanet Center in Maryland. Gorgeous, right?"
Last week, nearly two years from the date I woke up to snow on the beautiful Blue Mosque in Instabul, I had the distinct joy of waking up to snow on the Diyanet Center in Maryland. Gorgeous, right? #winter #whiteout #CAIR #masajid #Turkey #CaliGirl #50by50 pic.twitter.com/0SsHXgDAHu
— Zahra Billoo (@ZahraBilloo) January 24, 2018
The report by Disinfo Lab has also highlighted that Pieter Friedrich was leading a propaganda warf to sabotage the election campaigns of pro-India politicians in the US.
In this regard, the report says, “What makes it even more suspicious is that they have been running paid campaigns against their targets, all in the name of Organization for Indian Minorities."
"The list of their targets is not small. Starting from Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard to Congresspersons as well as local level politicians. Derailing Tulsi Gabbard’s election campaign is likely the biggest achievement that the group can claim," the report said.
An analysis by Greek City Times revealed that Zahra Billoo was also one of the integral contributors to the sabotage campaign as she went to Tulsi Gabbard events in 2019 and tried to interrupt them and defame the Democrat.
In a similar event, she created chaos and tried to malign Gabbard’s image.
Boasting herself over Twitter regarding the incidence, she tweeted – “Sometimes I’m louder than I realize."
Sometimes I’m louder than I realize. 😬✊🏽 #SheThePeople2020 https://t.co/lAJJEQrRYa
— Zahra Billoo (@ZahraBilloo) April 24, 2019
The thread on which this tweet was made, as well as other tweets by Billoo on Gabbard, were liked by Peiter Friedrich, clearly reflecting that Zahra Billoo was a part of the Turkish-Pakistani campaign to attack pro-India leaders in the U.S. Elections.
Currently, Zahra is busy amplifying the anti-India messages on farmers’ protest in India in her attempts to help Pieter Friedrich’s anti-India propaganda campaign.
The famous report by Canada based think tank Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) titled “Khalistan: A Project of Pakistan," explained how Pakistan launched a proxy warfare through Khalistani elements.
It also explained how it is running a propaganda war on an issue which has no actual ground support in India.
It is shocking to learn that Pakistan has now brought in Turkey to combine the Khalistani, Pakistani, and Caliphate projects to help each other and support in the information warfare.
It is high time that democratic powers of the world need to come together to break the nexus and ensure a rule-based world order.
Geopolitical experts believe that countries like Greece, India, the UAE and France shall come together to hit hard on the nexus so that it ceases to be a threat.
Further, they should collectively urge the new Biden administration to ensure that the U.S. is not used for the activities of extremist and anti-state actors that could jeopardise peace across the world.
A diplomatic expert whom we spoke to argued that platforms like the ‘Philia Forum’ could be a pathbreaker in this endeavour.
France shall come upgrade its status from an observer to a full-time member of the alliance and India should start brainstorming on joining it.
