news.am, Armenia May 18 2017 Armenian president: Yerevan seeks self-determination for Karabakh [Armenian News note: the below is translated from Armenian] Armenia seeks to guarantee the people's right of self-determination, not the preservation of the status quo in Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno Karabakh, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has said in comments about the state of the negotiating process, News.am reported on 18 May. The president was speaking at the first session of the new Armenian parliament. Comprehensive solution He noted, however, that any change in the status quo of the conflict would only be acceptable if a comprehensive solution is reached. Sargsyan added that Armenia has always supported the settlement of the conflict based on mutual concessions based on the recognition and implementation of Karabakh's right for self-determination. "Yes, it [the solution] must be based on mutual concessions but not on unilateral concessions, yielding to Azerbaijan's threats that otherwise the war is inevitable. Yes, we do not want the preservation of the status quo, not anymore. We do not want to shift the burden of solving the issue on the next generations. And our joint efforts with the [OSCE] member states to settle the issue pursue this aim," Sargsyan was quoted as saying. Sargsyan stressed that the proposal made in December 1997 - an apparent reference to the OSCE's "step-by-step deal" was aimed at establishing a ceasefire and not resolving the Karabakh conflict. "The Armenian sides were receiving dubious security guarantees and no less dubious and unclear prospects for the political settlement of the conflict, going for disproportional concessions instead," he was quoted as saying. The president also criticised the idea that the status quo of the conflict is in Armenia's favour. "When Baku distorts the facts, saying that we are allegedly trying to preserve the status quo, it can be viewed as part of the opponent's logic. But it is unacceptable for such an opinion to be voiced in Armenia," the website quoted him as saying. Right to self-determination Sargsyan noted that, for the first time in history of the Karabakh talks, references are being made to the people's right of self-determination. "For the first time in the history of negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, it has been fixed that the Nagorno-Karabakh's final legal status, determined by the free will of the Artsakh [Karabakh] people, will have legally binding force. That is to say, it will be binding for Azerbaijan as well and guaranteed by the international community. Unlike previous stages, it was also fixed in the working documents that Artsakh representatives will have a decisive voice in the settlement," Sargssyan was quoted as saying. "In short, it is becoming clear and vivid how the political solution to the conflict will be shaped. In this regard, the Azerbaijani president confessed in an outburst of sincerity that the [OSCE Minsk Group] mediators were forcing him to accept Nagorno-Karabakh's independence. This is the essence of the negotiating process of the last years," News.am quoted Sargsyan as saying.