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A Lincoln barber who has named his business after a Kurdish militia has defended the decision following a varied reaction on social media.

Comments on social media show the decision has sparked debate due to the historically tense relations between Turks and Kurds over the issue of Kurdish sovereignty, with one Twitter user claiming that the decision is “bad business”.

The business had previously traded under the name Barber King before the overhaul in design earlier this year.

The studio is now named Y.P.G Barbers after the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, a militant group formed in 2003 to protect Kurdish people from terrorism.

The group, which the Turkish government has accused of ethnic cleansing, rose to international prominence during the ongoing Syrian Civil War, fighting against the group that refers to themselves as Islamic State and receiving military aid from the US led coalition.

Despite the mixed response online, owner Haji Salih defended his decision saying: “I’ve not heard anyone say they don’t like it, but I’m sure some Turkish people won’t like it and that is up to them.

"They opened the Turk restaurant and I’m free to do this as well. But the point is British people like it.”

Haji was conscripted into Saddam Hussein’s army aged 18 in 1984 but escaped soon after, worrying about his future.

He remained in Iraqi Kurdistan for a number of years following before becoming a refugee fearing for his life due to his mixed-religious background.

The rise of Al-Qaeda in the area further fuelled his decision to finally leave in 2001.

After arriving in the UK, he settled in Lincoln, enrolling at the Lincoln College in order to study hairdressing before later opening his own salon in the city.

“I’m half-Jewish, half-Muslim, so I was looking for freedom and looking to save myself, that’s why I came to the UK," he said.

"When I first came to the UK, I didn’t try to be a barber so I had to slowly learn the language and culture like a building from the foundations up.”

The Kurdish barber also explained his feeling of assimilation into British society: “The democratic system of cultures is much better for me here in the UK. I am not a follower of religion and I think in other countries religion is often too involved with people’s personal lives.”