The Senate's Foreign Relations Committee is set to review the proposal on June 23. Oskanian said Thursday that Armenia believes that lifting the aid ban would be a mistake. He said Azerbaijan maintains its closed border and rail blockade against Armenia, and he charged that Azerbaijan opposes regional economic cooperation that includes Armenia. Azerbaijan demands the return of territory seized by the Karabakh Armenians. Oskanian added that there are also no obstacles to normalized relations between Armenia and Turkey.
Turkey has ethnic and religious ties to Azerbaijan.
Turkey does not have diplomatic relations with Armenia and has also closed its border with Armenia. Oskanian said there are problems between Turkey and Armenia that must be solved, but he said there are no pre-conditions for normal relations. He said Armenia would like Turkey to drop its linkage of a settlement of the Karabakh dispute to diplomatic recognition. Oskanian also said Armenia wants Turkey to recognize that the Ottoman Empire pursued a policy of genocide against its Armenian subjects during World War I, deliberately killing more than one million. Turkey has refused to concede this argument.