EP rapporteur accuses Armenian lobby of blackmail?

February 28, 2009 - 14:06 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - The European Parliament's rapporteur on Turkey, Ria Oomen-Ruijten, has said Armenian lobbyists have threatened to destroy her career because she has refused to refer the 1915 events as Genocide.



She said Armenians have told her that they will do their best to prevent her re-election to the European Parliament.



Vowing that she would work hard to keep her report as it was, she said, "I will never step away. If I am convinced that the document is good for both Turks and Armenians, then I will keep the report as it is."



Stressing that she very much appreciated Turkish President Abdullah Gul's visit to Armenia last fall, Oomen-Ruijten added that the Turkish-Armenian border should be opened.



"But that the Armenians living in Europe and the U.S. are not very interested in the opening of the border," she added, Today's Zaman reports.
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