The Australian has corrected an article that removed reference to the Armenian Genocide when it was originally republished on the news website, calling it a “glitch” and “error” in an apology to the Armenian-Australian community, which was in response to an appeal by the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).
In a letter to Editor-in-Chief of the News Limited publication, Christopher Dore, the Armenian-Australian community’s public affairs body raised concern over the article published on 21st October 2022, titled “Turkey’s Erdogan sees ‘opportunity’ to mend Armenia ties”, which was sourced from global news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Whilst the article published by the AFP accurately informs its audience on the fundamental rift between Turkey and Armenia being Ankara’s failure to recognise the Armenian Genocide, The Australian edited out the reference to the relevant line in its publication, instead sloppily leaving in the phrase “Turkey fiercely rejects this label” without context, drawing the attention of the ANC-AU.
The Australian immediately addressed the concerns raised, removing the article and re-publishing it with the correct reference to the Armenian Genocide after apologising to members of the community for what they acknowledged as a “glitch” and “error”. The new article can be found here.
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“Our community cannot and will not tolerate under any circumstance, censorship of the Armenian Genocide by any Australian media outlet, which is simply a bankrupt policy of genocide denial undertaken by the Turkish state and its associated mouthpieces for decades,’ said ANC-AU Executive Director, Michael Kolokossian.
“We thank Mr. Dore and The Australian for their swift correction of this mistake by republishing the article in full.”