PanARMENIAN.Net

EP rapporteur accuses Armenian lobby of blackmail?
28.02.2009 14:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Parliamentâ??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
Gulâ??s visit to Armenia last fall, Oomen-Ruijten added that
the Turkish-Armenian border should be opened.

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