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Just days before two key state elections, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party bloc was further bruised on Thursday by a third exit from a member of parliament.

Mark Hauptmann, a lawmaker with the Christian Democrats (CDU) from the state of Thuringia, quit his seat in the Bundestag on Thursday amid pressure over allegations he was involved in lobbying activity for Azerbaijan.

Hauptmann's departure follows a report by news magazine Spiegel over Azerbaijani, Taiwanese and Vietnamese tourism ads run in the "Südthüringer Kurier," a CDU-near local newspaper he publishes. He had been accused of accepting money from foreign agencies, Deutsche Welle reported. 

Hauptmann told Die Welt newspaper he "strongly refuted suspicions" and "misrepresentations" raised in the report.

"At no time, however, have these ads influenced my political decisions — I attach particular importance to that," Hauptmann told Die Welt.

"I never received any money, and there was never any influencing of my political actions," said Hauptmann, adding he had quit the Bundestag to "protect my family."