The Armenian side spread information about losses allegedly suffered by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on the frontline; Armenians’ alleged permission to take the corpse of an Azerbaijanian; as well as the Azerbaijani servicemen’s alleged killing of an Armenian shepherd. These are absolute lies, spokesman for the Azerbaijani defense ministry, Colonel Vagif Dargahli told on Jan. 12.

“While spreading the provocative information, the Armenian side is trying to mislead the local and international community, overstepping the limits,” he said.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces fully control the situation on the contact line.

"A skirmish was observed last night,” he said. “The Armenians fired at Azerbaijani villages and civilians. The Azerbaijani Armed Forces gave a fitting rebuff."

The spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry Artsrun Hovhannisyan reported on his Facebook page that in accordance with international humanitarian rules on January 11, the Armenian armed forces allegedly allowed Azerbaijan to take the corpse of an Azerbaijani "saboteur", who was killed during the "diversionary attacks" in the direction of Tavush region.

"Hovhannisyan seems to wage a war on his Facebook page,” Dargahli said. “The Armenians are trying virtually to implement everything they can not do in reality."

Regarding the accusations made by the Armenian side concerning the murder of the Armenian shepherd Sargsyan, Dargahli said that in fact he was killed by the Armenians themselves but they blame the Azerbaijani side.

"The Armenian side said that a 80-year-old shepherd was killed during a skirmish,” Dargahli said. “It turns out that the Armenians have had diificulty finding people willing to fight and therefore recruit the elderly."

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

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