Berlin, Germany, June 7
By Sevil Mikayilova - Trend:
Azerbaijan and Germany are actively cooperating in energy and engineering, said Sigmar Gabriel, German vice-chancellor, economy and energy minister, Trend special correspondent reported.
Gabriel made the statement at the opening of the Azerbaijan-Germany business forum in Berlin June 7.
"Our companies are mainly working in the areas of energy and engineering," he said. "We offer Azerbaijan strong partnership. We hope that the forum will contribute to the cooperation."
"We would like Azerbaijan to become a WTO member," he said, adding that Azerbaijan is a country favorable for investments.
The Azerbaijan-Germany trade turnover exceeded $350 million in January-April 2016.
Gabriel also said that Germany supports the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is also the OSCE chairperson-in-office, is making every effort to resolve this issue," he said. "We pin high hopes on the meeting held between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in Vienna in May and we want the negotiations on settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to continue."
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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.