Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan according to international law, member of the Bundestag (German parliament) Tankred Schipanski has said, according to Azertag state news agency.

Schipanski said that Germany supports the UN Security Council resolutions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict which call for withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories and makes efforts for enforcement of these resolutions.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an Azerbaijani region occupied by Armenia along with seven adjacent regions since a war fought by the two South Caucasus republics in the early 1990s. Years of OSCE-brokered peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.

Schipanski said that Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and the fate of refugees are inseparably linked.

According to him, as a member of the OSCE Minsk Group as well as within the framework of the EU, Germany is working to achieve a peaceful settlement of the conflict, putting an end to the suffering of refugees and internally displaced persons and safe return to their homes.

He also noted that Germany and Azerbaijan are connected by long-term economic, cultural and political partnership.

Schipanski added that the two countries have long efficiently cooperated within the European Union.

"Azerbaijan was admitted to the European Neighborhood Policy in 2004. Due to this close link, it is an important issue for us to contribute to regional stability and security," he said.

According to Schipanski, Germany as a member of the Minsk Group will take an active part in the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the future.

Peace talks aimed at resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.