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Executive Director at the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Aram Hamparian believes the rhetoric around "preparing populations for peace" rings hollow unless matched with the transparency needed for the public to actually make informed judgments. Hamparian thus commented on the recent statement by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs over the Nagorno Karabakh settlement process and call for preparing people for peace.

In Hamparian’s words, without transparency, such calls can come across as something between "you can trust me," and "you don't need to know."

As a starting point, Hamparian has raised number of questions whether the Madrid Principles the are basis for current talks, what the outlines of the deal under consideration are, what role Artsakh will play in the process, what enforcement is envisioned for deferred commitments, etc.

“More broadly, how would a deal - if implemented - play out, over the short, mid, and long terms? For example, if Artsakh were to surrender land/security upfront, would Azerbaijan respond in good faith by keeping its commitments regarding Artsakh's future status. Or would Azerbaijan take this concession as a sign of weakness, leveraging its new advantage on the ground to secure (as Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly pledged) further territorial gains, until all of Artsakh is brought under Baku's control - with or without Armenians,” Hamparian voices on his Facebook page.

Despite the optimism, the ANCA Director suggested to prepare the worst given the history and geography. “This is not a time for careless thinking. As they say, we need to stay open-minded, but not so open that our brains fall out,” he concluded.