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Turkey
has said it is changing the names of three animals
found on its territory to remove references to
Kurdistan or Armenia.
The environment ministry says the Latin names of the
red fox, the wild sheep and the roe deer will be
altered.
The red fox for instance, known as Vulpes Vulpes
Kurdistanica, will now be known as Vulpes Vulpes.
Turkey has uneasy relations with neighbouring
Armenia and opposes Kurdish separatists in Turkey.
The ministry said the old names were contrary to
Turkish unity.
"Unfortunately there are many other species in
Turkey which were named this way with ill
intentions. This ill intent is so obvious that even
species only found in our country were given names
against Turkey's unity," a ministry statement quoted
by Reuters news agency said.
Some Turkish officials say the names are being used
to argue that Armenians or Kurds had lived in the
areas where the animals were found.
Turkey has tense ties with its eastern neighbour
Armenia, which it does not officially recognise.
Armenians accuse Turkey of genocide, saying 1.5
million of their people died or were deported from
their homelands under Turkish Ottoman rule.
Turkey denies the genocide and says the death count
is inflated.
For the last two decades, Turkey has also been
fighting Kurdish separatists, who have sought an
independent state in Turkey's south-east.
http://news.bbc.co.uk
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