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Hello, I noticed you have been editing out the ethnicity of Kosovo people in their biographies. According to wikipedia Guidelines: "Ethnicity, religion, or sexuality should generally not be in the lead unless relevant to the subject's notability."

In my opinion, Kosovo is a multi-ethnic state, and ethnicity is indeed relevant to be able to distinguish between them. Just putting Kosovan there can be misleading as there is no official Kosovan identity. 45.135.161.225 (talk) 09:55, 24 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

We don't do ethnicity for the bios of any other country, so why Kosovo? Someone from Kosovo is Kosovan/Kosovar. Please see a copy of the Kosovo passport and Identity card of Kosovo. We don't say that Denzel Washington is African American, we say he is American. IJA (talk) 15:00, 24 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, I'm just joining the discussion here. In this case, you've also changed articles related to Era Istrefi, who holds Albanian citizenship as well (see here). Xhulianoo (talk) 12:24, 23 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@IJA: So, a Serbian artist born and raised in Kosovo shall be referred to as a "Kosovar", according to your logic? You should then proceed to edit the article Jordan Nikolić as you have done with others and describe him as a "Kosovar folk singer". Or how about an Albanian artist in North Macedonia being identified as Macedonian? I don't think either would be very pleased with such labels. Context matters, especially when discussing ethnic complexity in the Balkans region. Wiki guideline follows with the line "unless relevant to the subject's notability". Kj1595 (talk) 07:51, 22 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

We don't include ethnicity in the intro of biographies. You're free to demonstrate how ethnicity is relevant to a subject's notability. IJA (talk) 14:37, 22 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Are you going to edit the Jordan Nikolić intro and describe him as a "kosovar folk singer"? Your refusal to do that defeats your very argument. Kj1595 (talk) 17:18, 22 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

No, because he was a Serbian citizen who lived in Serbia. We're not describing his ethnicity by describing him as Serbian. IJA (talk) 18:30, 22 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

He was born and raised in Kosovo. Developed as a musician while living in Kosovo. He is by your very definition, a "kosovar". Are you moving the goalposts now to suit your argument? Kj1595 (talk) 18:43, 22 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

What makes your argument even more shallow is the fact that Wikipedia doesn't even have an entry titled "kosovar". So what exactly are you describing? Some ghost entity? Kj1595 (talk) 18:50, 22 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Before Kosovo was a country and before there was such thing as Kosovar nationality. If you can prove to me that he had Kosovar nationality/citizenship, I'll make the change. Also, please check out the "Kosovars" article. IJA (talk) 08:56, 23 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

You have to distinguish ethnicity when describing a Kosovo based artist, otherwise it's fair game to label both Albanians and Serbs as "kosovar". It can't be so cut and dry, following the rules as you say. Geopolitical context should come into play. You now have to change the Jordan Nikolić intro and describe him as a "kosovar", going by the 'rules'. You still haven't done that so you are selectively editing. Kj1595 (talk) 17:19, 23 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

That's not the case according to Wikipedia's MOS for bios. If you can show evidence that he was a Kosovar Citizen, I'll gladly make the edit. IJA (talk) 18:28, 23 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Can you show evidence of "kosovar citizenship" for all the "kosovar" artists you edited? Kj1595 (talk) 19:39, 23 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

No, but they are from Kosovo and live in the Republic of Kosovo, therefore they are Kosovars. Jordan Nikolić was born and lived in Kosovo (when it was part of Yugoslavia). In c.1968, he moved to Belgrade where he died in 2018. As far as I'm away, he never lived in the Republic of Kosovo. He was a Serbian citizen who lived in Serbia, therefore he was Serbian. It would be incorrect to describe him as a Kosovar. And by describing him as Serbian, we are not describing his ethnicity (Serb/ Kosovo Serb). Wikipedia's MOS for bios is very clear, we do not include ethnicity in the intro unless it is relevant to their notability. Musicians and rappers are notable for their music and not because of their ethnicity. Take the rapper Stormzy - we say he is English, not Ghanaian-English because his ethnicity is not relevant to his notability. The same applies to Kosovar rappers and singers. Anyway, I'm bored of this discussion. I'll stick to what Wikipedia policy states for Bios. IJA (talk) 19:53, 23 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

By inferring the term "kosovar", you are by definition creating a new identity which for the general reader could be confused as ethnicity. Wouldn't it be prudent then to refer to them as Kosovo-based, for the sake of neutrality and to avoid confusion? Or maybe avoid the term altogether and identify them as "singer from Kosovo"? Kj1595 (talk) 20:04, 23 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I made the change to the Dafina Zeqiri article to show as example. It's neutral and to the point. No confusion for the general reader. Kj1595 (talk) 20:16, 23 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I've not created anything with that regard - see the article Kosovars for details if you're struggling to understand. They're the residents, citizens, and nationals of Kosovo, ie, people from that country. This will be your last response from me. Have a happy new year. IJA (talk) 23:08, 23 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If you revert my changes to each article, I will escalate this issue to the Admin noticeboard. You are clearly not interested in any compromise or rational solution. Kj1595 (talk) 01:27, 24 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

And one last comment from me. Oliver Ivanović, who happens to meet that strict criteria of a so-called "kosovar", an ethnic Serb public official who was born and raised in Kosovo, ran for office there (which clearly implies he had to have had Kosovo citizenship in order to do so), I urge you to try and change his intro to a "Kosovar politician" and see what reaction you will get by Serbian editors here. Kj1595 (talk) 01:38, 24 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

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Thank You User:IJA for your thoughtful comments on the 2 categories for Reinhard Heydrich. A second opinion is always appreciated.

For Your Information, part of my family still lives in West Malaysia today and another branch immigrated to either Australia or Canada. During World War Two, West Malaysia was called Malaya and the Japanese conquered all of this area including Singapore just to the south....and my late paternal grandfather and grandmother experienced the horrors of Japanese rule including mass public executions of Chinese people and severe food rationing to the point of near starvation. A Japanese army captain once warned my grandparents not to leave any teenage girls out in the open since he could not control his men's behaviour sadly. The Japanese claimed in their Word War Two propaganda that they were Asians like the people of Malaya/Malaysia but they treated Malaysians very poorly with atrocities, gangrapes and severe food rationing as wikipedia notes here. The people of Malaya did not love British colonial rule but they were definitely relieved when the Japanese surrendered in September 1945...and the British returned. In 1957, West Malaysia (Malaya) became independent and then all of Malaysia in 1963...both with Britain's full cooperation. People always condemn British colonial rule--rightly especially in India and Pakistan--but in Malaysia and Singapore, the local citizens are more nuanced and maybe more respectful...because they remember the trauma of Japanese World War Two colonial rule. Here is my Wikimedia Commons account if you like to use any of my free photos. Have a great Saturday! Best, --Leoboudv (talk) 11:57, 20 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your message Leoboudv. Malaysia (Malaya) has a very interesting history. I'll certainly have a look at your photos. Have a great day! Kind regards IJA (talk) 13:47, 20 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

   Send New Year cheer by adding {{subst:Happy New Year fireworks}} to user talk pages.

Volten001 ^☎ 10:50, 2 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Hey @IJA. Your wiki edit anniversary is today, marking 18 years of dedicated contributions to English Wikipedia. Your passion for sharing knowledge and your remarkable contributions have not only enriched the project, but also inspired countless others to contribute. Thank you for your amazing contributions. Wishing you many more wonderful years ahead in the Wiki journey and a blessed New Year. :) -❙❚❚❙❙ GnOeee ❚❙❚❙❙ ✉ 18:27, 8 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]