Technically, "anime" is literally just a shortening of "animation", which is a very large topic. It's just that it's most associated with Japan. I suppose it could be similar to the "football vs football" debate: American football is correct as the ball is a foot-long, while the rest of the world's football is correct as it's played with the feet. It's just a way of naming a concept. Just because the term "anime" started in Japan, it doesn't mean that it must stay exclusively Japanese. While the art-style may not be modern-Japanese, it is still animation, just like Hellsing, Evangelion, Naruto, etc.
That's just my two-cents on the matter. *ducks*