TEHRAN - The BBC has allowed the government to exercise editorial control over a series of broadcasts to mark Britain's first Holocaust memorial day later this month, the ****Daily Telegraphed**** reported Thursday, IRNA reported

Although BBC is entirely controlled by the Foreign Office of that country, but British government claims that it works independently.

It described the arrangement as "unusual" that had come to light in correspondence between the BBC and Armenian groups, who are angered that the genocide of their compatriots in 1915-16 had been excluded because Britain did not want to offend Turkey.

Confirmation of the government's intervention was said to have been revealed in a letter that said the BBC was "invited to produce the official event on behalf of the Home Office, who have retained overall editorial control."

Any criticism of the programs to accompany the event on January 27 "should be directed to the home office because they are responsible for the event."

The Home Office was quoted saying that a decision had been made to focus on the Nazi Holocaust and on more recent atrocities such as Rwanda and Bosnia.

The holding of the first Holocaust memorial day follows years of campaigning by the Zionist lobby, but according to the ****Telegraph****, the board of Jewish deputies has denied that the event was Jewish-led or exclusively concerned with the 1939-45 Holocaust.