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  • ANC France / EAFJD / ANCA: TIME-Europe Publishes Apology forDistribu

    Armenian National Committee of America
    888 17th St., NW Suite 904
    Washington, DC 20006
    Tel: (202) 775-1918
    Fax: (202) 775-5648
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Internet: www.anca.org

    PRESS RELEASE

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    October 18, 2005

    Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian, ANCA
    [email protected]
    Harout Mardirossian, ANC ~V France
    [email protected]
    Laurent Leylekian, European Armenian Federation (EAFJD)
    [email protected]

    TIME-EUROPE PUBLISHES APOLOGY FOR
    DISTRIBUTING GENOCIDE-DENIAL DVD

    -- Prints Full Page Letter from ANC-France and Other Human
    Rights Groups Demanding that TIME take Concrete
    Steps to Reverse the Profound Damage it has Caused

    -- ANC-France Considering Legal Action

    WASHINGTON, DC ~V Responding to months of protests organized by
    Armenian National Committee branches around the world, TIME
    Magazine's European edition published, in its October 17th issue, a
    brief apology to the Armenian community and all its readers for its
    dissemination earlier this year of a 70-minute DVD advertisement
    denying the Armenian Genocide.

    TIME's apology was printed alongside an extensive letter to editors
    of TIME-Europe by leading Armenian, Jewish and human rights
    organizations. This response was published under France's "right
    to reply" laws, which require a publication to provide editorial
    space to those unfairly attacked in its pages. The controversy
    over this issue began on June 5th, with the dissemination of a DVD,
    funded by the Ankara Chamber of Commerce, which featured denialist
    propaganda as part of a print and electronic advertisement package
    promoting tourism in Turkey.

    Joining the Armenian National Committee of France in writing to
    TIME-Europe were the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations
    of France, J'Accuse, Le MRAP and the Memoire 2000. In the letter,
    they noted that:

    "As representatives of French associations whose aim it is to fight
    against racism, anti-Semitism and to preserve the memory of the
    Armenian Genocide, we were shocked and disappointed to see that you
    chose to include in your June 6, 2005 issue of TIME-Europe a DVD
    spreading such the grotesque denial of the Armenian Genocide, and
    leveling so many hateful allegations against the Armenian people."

    The letter was printed on a full page in the print edition and can
    be read in its entirety on-line. Its authors identified specific
    instances in the DVD of genocide denial, and stressed that, just as
    TIME-Europe would rightfully not accept hateful Holocaust denial
    advertisements, it should not have circulated similarly false
    materials denying the Armenian Genocide. The letter concluded by
    calling on TIME-Europe to take three specific steps to rectify the
    situation it had created, including:

    1) Disclose what, if any, official standards TIME Magazine employs
    in accepting or rejecting advertising. For example, would TIME
    have accepted a similarly hateful DVD denying the Holocaust.

    2) Distribute, free of charge, a DVD prepared by the European
    Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) documenting
    the history of the Armenian Genocide and the modern-day
    consequences of this crime.

    3) Donate the advertising revenues from this campaign to nonprofit
    organizations raising awareness about the Armenian Genocide and
    other instances of genocide.

    Following the letter, TIME-Europe printed an apology for the
    dissemination of the DVD, stating that they had failed to properly
    review the DVD to establish its full contents before distributing
    it to their subscribers.

    "TIME regrets distributing the DVD and we are very sorry for the
    offense it has caused. The so-called documentary portion of the DVD
    presents a one-sided view of history that does not meet our
    standards for fairness and accuracy, and we would not have
    distributed it had we been aware of its content. Unfortunately, the
    DVD was not adequately reviewed by anyone at TIME because it was
    believed to be a benign promotion piece. We have since changed our
    review process so as to guarantee more vigilance in future. We
    apologize to the Armenian community, and to our readers."

    The letter was published according to the France's "right to reply"
    law, first adopted in 1898, which compels a newspaper or magazine
    to allow an individual who has been defamed to provide a response
    of equal length. The law was later expanded to audio-visual
    material as well, with certain restrictions.

    ANC of France Chairman Harout Mardirossian commented that the TIME-
    Europe apology and printing of the letter to the editor was the
    "the first result of a joint effort and long-term engagement by
    associations fighting against racism, anti-Semitism and for the
    defense of the memory of the Armenian Genocide." Mardirossian
    added, however, that the effort to rectify the situation has not
    ended, noting that, "If TIME Magazine thinks that this "right of
    reply" will settle the score on this issue, it is seriously
    mistaken. A one-paragraph response does not match the outreach of
    a 70 minute DVD and cannot address the humiliation and degradation
    felt by Genocide `survivors and their descendants as a result of
    this denialist propaganda." continued Mardirossian.

    In an interview with the Armenian Weekly, Mardirossian did not rule
    out legal action in the TIME-Europe case, stating that "We, along
    with our partners [J'Accuse, Mémoire 2000, Council of French
    Armenian Organizations, Union of French Jewish Students] are ready,
    if necessary, to initiate a lawsuit against TIME, as well as the
    authors, producers and distributors of the DVD."

    Mardirossian added that the ANC-France had successfully taken on
    similar anti-defamation cases in the past, including a recent court
    victory against French encyclopedia company, QUID, whose 2002, 2003
    and 2004 editions included historically inaccurate references
    denying the Armenian Genocide. The recently published 2006 edition
    of the QUID encyclopedia has removed all revisionist references,
    and correctly characterizes the events of 1915-1923 as genocide.

    In the months leading up to the TIME-Europe apology, the ANC of
    France teamed up with the Armenian National Committee of America
    and European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD)
    in initiating an international letter-writing campaign to TIME-
    Europe calling for swift action in response to DVD. Thousands
    responded to the call to action, expressing grave concern that TIME
    had sacrificed journalistic principles for a million dollar
    advertisement campaign.

    A parallel effort to address the TIME-Europe DVD misinformation
    issue has also been pursued by the Switzerland-Armenia
    Organization, based on violations of Swiss law.

    To read the complete letter to the editor and the TIME-Europe
    response, visit:

    http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/a rticle/0,13005,901051017-1113684,00.html

    [Scroll down to the article titled "Turkish Tourism DVD"]

    #####

    --Boundary_(ID_A/Gpf+wrnxL2eqnCa4UfF Q)--
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