No one doubts that the Armenian Defense Ministry is openly lying, denying and refuting facts, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said in a statement on Monday. 

The statement came after the remarks voiced by the Armenian Defense Ministry that an Armenian officer allegedly lost his way and crossed into the Azerbaijani side.

The Armenian side stated that the officer allegedly “lost his way and disappeared” during an inspection of a combat stronghold due to unfavorable weather conditions, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry noted.

“The Armenian Defense Ministry tries to refute the fact that the commander of a sabotage-reconnaissance group, Senior Lieutenant Gurgen Alaverdyan, was taken prisoner while carrying out a special assignment. If the captured officer was not in military uniform, then the Armenian Defense Ministry would have introduced him as a shepherd or a mentally ill person,” the Azerbaijani ministry said.

“If an officer “disappears” and the public is not informed about it after more than 24 hours, this is a sign of arbitrariness, irresponsibility and indiscipline in the Armenian army and once again proves the deliberate concealment of the growing number of crimes and non-combat losses from the public.”

“Every time an Armenian citizen, leading a subversive group or a member of this group, is taken prisoner by Azerbaijani servicemen, the enemy, according to the same scenario, declares these persons as lost and missing or as insane rural residents, mentally ill shepherds, criminals and drunks." 

The entire responsibility for the aggravation of the situation on the line of contact of troops and on the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border rests entirely with the military-political leadership of Armenia, the ministry added. 

On August 23 at about 05:45, a sabotage-reconnaissance group of the Armenian armed forces made an attempt to commit a provocation in the direction of Azerbaijan’s Goranboy district along the front. 

As a result of the resolute actions taken by the Azerbaijani army’s units stationed in this direction, the enemy was forced to retreat after suffering losses. During the battle, the commander of the Armenian sabotage group, according to the initial interrogation, Senior Lieutenant Gurgen Alaverdyan was taken prisoner.

News.Az