[Armenian News note: the below is translated from Russian]

Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh has pledged to facilitate Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia in securing recognition of the "genocide" of South Ossetians by Georgia, the South Ossetian government-run Res news website, cominf.org, reported on 19 February.

The Tskhinvali authorities have accused Georgia of ethnic cleansing during the conflict of seccession in the early 1990s and perpetrating "genocide" in the area during the 2008 Georgia-Russia war.

"This problem has been raised at different platforms and is especially topical against the backdrop of statements made by Georgian politicians," South Ossetian foreign minister Dmitri Medoyev said at a news briefing with the visiting Karabakh foreign minister Masis Mailyan.

Medoyev noted that not a single Georgian official ever apologised for "crimes" committed against the South Ossetian people.

Mailyan said that with the help of Armenian diaspora, Karabakh was ready to help South Ossetia in securing the recognition of the "genocide" of South Ossetians.

The Karabakh official elaborated on the Armenian diaspora's efforts to secure the recognition of the "genocide" of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire.

Mailyan said that efforts were also underway by Armenian living abroad to secure the recognition of the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"The results that we have achieved in the USA are not so bad. Eight states, including California, have recognised our independence. We also have sister cities in Europe and the Middle East too," Mailyan was quoted as saying.

Res reported in another report on the same day that a cooperation agreement had been signed between the foreign ministries of Nagorno-Karbakh and South Ossetia as part of the Karabakh foreign minister's ongoing visiting South Ossetia.

"The signing of the official document speaks about fruitful foreign policy work carried out by our republics," Res quoted South Ossetian president Anatoly Bibilov as saying at a meeting with Maliyev.