User talk:IJA

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)

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)

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)

@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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

I agree with the user above and @Kj1595. Why are you obsessing over the leads for Kosovo Albanians specifically? Have you taken a look at Milorad Dodik page? Furthermore Wikipedia guidelines are not meant to be followed letter to letter.

"Ethnicity, religion, or sexuality should generally not be in the lead unless relevant to the subject's notability"

Keyword is general here. So there are cases where Ethnicity should be used like in Kosovo case. I will be reverting your edits. Please refrain from nonconstructive edits! TheSecondBrother2 (talk) 20:50, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

His edits are clearly controversial, as seen by the reaction of multiple users here. He is blatantly applying double standards by allowing the ethnicity description for Kosovo Serbs, while doing the opposite for Kosovo Albanians. I will just presume he doesn't have some sort of pro-serb agenda, here, because his behavior cannot rationally be explained. Kj1595 (talk) 21:04, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

Did you escalate the issue to Admins? TheSecondBrother2 (talk) 21:07, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

I think I'm going to report you for WP:SOCK. IJA (talk) 21:09, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

Do as you wish. You should be banned from Kosovo topics. TheSecondBrother2 (talk) 21:10, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

Tomorrow IJA (talk) 21:10, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

You afraid to do it now? TheSecondBrother2 (talk) 21:11, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

Yes, I'm shaking in my boots with terror. IJA (talk) 21:13, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

I believe you TheSecondBrother2 (talk) 21:13, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

• IJA is right. The Kosovo citizens are called Kosovars/Kosovans. If Kosovo is a country, and it is, then we put the nationality rather than ethnicity in the descriptions of Kosovo citizens. "Kosovo Albanian" should be used for those figures whose Albanian ethnicity is part of the reason why they are notable, e.g. Ibrahim Rugova as the leader of the Albanian movement in Kosovo. Ktrimi991 (talk) 01:52, 6 February 2026 (UTC)

  Well we are actually putting them both not just ethnicity. I can't even find Kosovars/Kosovans in . I am not even sure if it exists in English or not and if it does how commonly it is used. Bosnia is a country too and yet the Bosnian nationals are referred to with Bosnian serb, Bosnian croat or Bosniak. Tell why it sounds better: Person is a Kosovan singer who predominantly sings in Albanian rather than Person is a Kosovo Albanian singer. ? TheSecondBrother2 (talk) 08:32, 6 February 2026 (UTC)

Kosovar/ Kosovan is a nationality of a country. Look at a Kosovo ID Card or Passport for evidence. With Bosnia, we only use ethnicity when it is relevant such as a politician but not with musicians or sports people, eg Edin Džeko. IJA (talk) 10:06, 6 February 2026 (UTC)

I never said it wasn't a nationality in Albanian. I am talking about in English. I don't see "Kosovan" anywhere stated. You should provide a reliable source. With Bosnia, the Bosnian serbs sportists and actors Nataša Ninković Tijana Bošković are refered as Serbs in the lead, bosnian croatian singers as well. Jura Stublić. TheSecondBrother2 (talk) 10:49, 6 February 2026 (UTC)

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)

Which sources on GBooks do you feel constitute significant coverage?

• Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel's Tween Empire -- just quotes him (WP:PRIMARYSOURCE), gives zero biographical info
• Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition and International Television & Video Almanac -- just directory listings that say nothing about him except what character he played
• Hunks, Hotties, and Pretty Boys: Twentieth-Century Representations of Male Beauty -- brings him up for less than a sentence
• Television Movies of the 21st Century -- also a directory listing that says nothing about him
• The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present -- ditto
• Cable Vision and TV Guide -- only name him passingly in reference to his character

Literally all these sources do is confirm that he played a character. They say nothing about him biographically and are just routine directory listings. Which ones do you feel are sigcov? Ten Pound Hammer • ^{(What did I screw up now?)} 16:26, 9 February 2026 (UTC)

After further analysing the secondary sources, I've changed my response on the AfD. IJA (talk) 17:30, 9 February 2026 (UTC)

Thank you. I'm trying to be nicer and more in-depth when I question other editors on the integrity of sources. Ten Pound Hammer • ^{(What did I screw up now?)} 18:22, 9 February 2026 (UTC)

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_signed, Rosguill ^talk 23:20, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Hello ija, I recently created a draft biography about the Albanian singer Naldi and I would really appreciate it if you could take a look at it when you have time. Here is the draft: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Naldi_(singer) If anything needs improvement or correction, please let me know. Thank you very much for your help. ~2026-16271-76 (talk) 21:39, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Hey, sorry for the late response. The draft page has been deleted therefore I'm unable to review it for you. King regards IJA (talk) 10:04, 15 March 2026 (UTC)