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RIGA, Latvia — Russia’s ongoing campaign to undermine NATO’s presence in the former Soviet Baltic republics via propaganda and disinformation included a recent attack on Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan for wearing a turban, according to one of Latvia’s top soldiers.

”That was the talk of the town,” Col. Ilmars Lejins said at a conference here that discussed “NATO in the Disinformation Age.”

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“The mere fact that (Sajjan) wore a turban was exploited. That will happen again,” said the colonel, who as commander of Latvia’s army brigade has been working with officers from the Canadian-led NATO battle group that will this summer establish a long-term tripwire presence in the state, which shares a 214-kilometre border with Russia.

The colonel’s theory as to why suspected Internet trolls acting on Russia’s behalf made an effort to spread word that Sajjan wore “different headgear than anyone else” was to play upon what it regards as “latent xenophobia” in eastern Europe. It took advantage of the fact that some Europeans associate turbans with radical Islam, he said.