Talk:Kobani

storm OR liberate OR capture

Lets sort this out before we have a list of editions on this little article. IF you ARE referring to a source, search for your word...does the Rudaw article mention "capture"? or is it "liberate"? Hiwakan (talk) 20:30, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

Actually, Rudaw would not be considered a reliable source. And even if it is, "liberated" is not a neutral word, nor is "stormed". The first is biased in favor of the opposition, while the second is biased in favor of the regime. The best word be "captured" because it just states fact. The Eurasia Review, which is reliable, simply writes that the YPG "assumed control" of the city. --Al Ameer son (talk) 20:41, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

Etana source

I doubt this Etana source, its credibility and the source of their numbers. In the absence of any official numbers (or even estimates), anyone can give any number on the constituents. The report also cites that 40% of the Kurdish fighters in the city came from Turkey, creating another source of uncertainty. I suggest removing the proportion numbers altogether. Amr ibn Kulthoumعمرو بن كلثوم (talk) 15:23, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

City founded by Ottoman. So, why kurdish city?

The city was founded by the ottoman turks, kurds migrated and settled later on. So why is it a kurdish city? It does not make any sense. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.82.153.132 (talk) 13:23, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

Problem resolved. Skinsmoke (talk) 16:52, 3 October 2014 (UTC)

Its not a "kurdish city" there are some people on wikipedia and elsewhere that have an agenda and are attempting to rewrite history. --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 00:35, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

A side note, a few arabic sources which depend almost exclusively on oral history suggest that the name of the city (kobani) does not have a clear kurdish meaning and that it must be have originated from another word, possibly from the word "company" in english, also the city has been established a little more than a hundred years ago, sources suggest that the name of the area was "kani" in kurdish which means "spring(s?)", the city was either established around 1911-1912 when the orient express rails were constructed (there is a question whether the "company" doing the constructions had an office there, some suggest so) or a few years earlier (1892), first "quarter" was built around 1915 by Armenian refugees, kurds from the area settled as well in the newly established "city". when the borders were set, it was along the railway, the turkish side was called "Mürşitpınar" (murshid pınar, means murshid spring) and the syrian side was called (ayn al-arab, meaning arabs spring; no pun intended), both names seem to reflect earlier kurdish names for two springs (kani murshidi and kani araba). the common/local name seems to be kobani (the street names seem to suggest that) (طريق كوباني - حلب from google maps for example)--Mayz (talk) 19:12, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

City Name-District Name

I see a war over the Kurdish vs Arab name of this city and area. Remember this page is under 1RR sanctions. Perhaps the warring editor would like to state their case here? Legacypac (talk) 23:23, 3 October 2014 (UTC)

Requested move

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: consensus to move the page to Kobanê, per the discussion below. Please initiate a new discussion if you think a further move is necessary. If move protection is needed, please ask an uninvolved admin to protect the page, and refer them to this discussion if necessary to prevent locking "the wrong version." Dekimasuよ! 06:58, 14 October 2014 (UTC)

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Ayn al-Arab → Kobani – New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera English, CNN, RT, Bloomberg, NPR, CBS News, Haaretz English, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, Al Monitor English, The Guardian, NBCNews, Radio Free Europe, New York Sun, Reuters, Deutsche Welle English, Voice of America... 174.19.225.169 (talk) 15:17, 7 October 2014 (UTC)

• Oppose per policy: Wikipedia is not a newspaper. The organizations working in the area are all Kurdish, so they use the Kurdish name when they are reporting from the area in the latest events and therefor some western journalists inaccurately follow the Kurdish name. And the accurate, historical, official and original real name Ayn al Arab is used also by media:CNN, NYT, Al Jazeera. The real name of the town is Ayn al-Arab, and it is also used by the United Nations: [1] and the CIA :[2]. If we look at published books, then "Ayn al Arab" gets 20,700 hits:[3] while the false name "kobani" only gets 3,280 hits: [4]. Latest events can not change the real, historical, original and official name of the town.--Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 22:45, 7 October 2014 (UTC)
• Oppose We can't simply change an OFFICIAL name for a city based on newspapers and political bias. Amr ibn Kulthoumعمرو بن كلثوم (talk) 01:03, 8 October 2014 (UTC)
• WP:OFFICIALNAME we do not use official names on Wikipedia. We use common names WP:UCN as found in English WP:UE ; So we should look at the most common name as found used in English. -- 65.94.171.225 (talk) 04:05, 8 October 2014 (UTC)
• Support with slight change: The name should be Kobanê. That matches the region Kobanê Canton and the Siege of Kobanê. The WP:COMMONNAME here is not even a contest. Kobane About 10,500,000 results vs "Ayn al-Arab" About 2,290,000 results and many of those pages call the city by the Kurdish name as well in the result preview. The 5:1 results have been holding as I've checked this a few times over the last few days. "Siege of Kobane" vs "Siege of Ayn al-Arab" results were 22:1 when I checked earlier today. Also as a practical matter the city has been controlled by the Syrian Kurdish govt for some time, and as the governing authority they pick the name-saying the regime's name is official rings hollow when the regime has not controlled it for quite a while. Also compelling is that I see Kurds dying not defend the place, not Arab Syrian regime troops. Legacypac (talk) 08:14, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

"Matches"? Then Ayn al Arab "matches" Ayn al-Arab District. The google hits are because of the latest events were news organizations are following the kurdish name because the activists reporting from the area are all kurdish, so of course they use the kurdish name. If we take a look at published books before the latest news events then "Ayn al Arab" gets 20,700 hits:[5] while the false name "kobani" only gets 3,280 hits: [6]. Wikipedia is not a newspaper should apply here. --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 13:53, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

Supreme Deliciousness, your constant patronizing use of "the false name 'kobani'" indicates a strong and biased WP:POV that makes it very hard to take your arguments seriously. Wikipedia does not take sides, we try to follow common usage, as indicated below.Jeppiz (talk) 14:04, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

• Strong support Should be moved to Kobane immediately as per WP:UE and WP:UCN.The official name is not relevant (see Rome, not Roma, Venice not Venezia, Copenhagen not København etc.). The Wikipedia says explicitly that readers should find the article under the name they expect. In English coverage, Kobane outnumbers Ayn al-Arab by something like 10 to 1. If readers come here looking for Kobane, they should find it under that name. This is not a matter of opinion, it's Wikipedia's stated policy.Jeppiz (talk) 09:14, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

• Oppose While I don't like the fact that the central government has named a majority Kurdish town something as provocative as "The Spring of the Arabs" (What about the Kurds?), I believe that Wikipedia should generally respect state sovereignty first and foremost. Similarly, for this reason, I support Myanmar over Burma, Côte d'Ivoire over Ivory Coast, and Timor-Leste over East Timor. Furthermore, Ayn al-Arab is recognized throughout the world community - even by the Syrian government's opponents. --Tocino 09:17, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

Who says that its a "kurdish town" ? Its a Syrian town, kurds were not the first people who lived there. They moved in later, just like many other towns in Syria. Many different ethnic groups lived in Ayn al Arab. --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 13:29, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

Tocino's point does not follow WP policy while Supreme Deliciousness's point does not take into account that the name Ayn al Arab was imposed on Kobani in the 1980s to Arabize the place. Legacypac (talk) 11:11, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

Actually, sovereignty does not trump WP:UE and WP:UCN. Some years ago Italy tried to push Torino instead of Turin in English. Sovereignty is relevant if there are several names and no common English usage. In this case, there most certainly is common English usage. Jeppiz (talk) 09:32, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

The problem is on English world maps you will see the town listed as Ayn al-Arab, and not as Kobane. That's not the case with Torino, København, Venezia, etc. --Tocino 09:39, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

That's not a problem, no. It's not unusual that more than one name is sometimes used in English (Bozen/Bolzano or Lyons/Lyon or Raseborg/Raasepori to take a few examples). In those cases, we still stick to the rules of WP:UCN so if one name is in more common use, we use that one. Sometimes, as in Finland, Switzerland or Italy, we go with the name of the majority population in the place itself. In the case of Kobane, that's Kobane. So even if we did not have a much more comononly used name in English, Wikipedia would still favour Kobane. But as it is, Kobane is used 10 to 1 in English. The article about the battle of the city is called Siege of Kobanê so it's mightily illogic to use another name here.Jeppiz (talk) 10:46, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

Sorry, Tocino, but your argument that state sovereignty comes first would mean overturning some well-established decisions of Wikipedia in favour of Burma, Ivory Coast and East Timor. PatGallacher (talk) 23:43, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

Nice try, but those are not "well-established" decisions at all. Every time those three articles get RM'd they get scores of inputs and are generally argued to death. The decision to move the article for Myanmar to Burma in 2007 was particularly controversial. --Tocino 09:20, 11 October 2014 (UTC)

There is also Taiwan and Republic of Ireland. I don't think those are likely to be moved anytime soon. "Republic of China" and "Ireland" are official and constitutionally enshrined. Claimsworth (talk) 10:19, 11 October 2014 (UTC)

• Strong Support Syria is a multi-cultural and multi-linguistic country, hence places have multiple names in different languages. There is not one "true" name with the rest being "false". That is as absurd as saying there is a "true" language, and that the rest are "false". Aleppo and Damascus have multiple names, and in the English Wikipedia we use the most common English name. Not the official one, not the name most used by the locals, not the original etymon. All this favours Kobani. 88.170.241.162 (talk) 06:04, 9 October 2014 (UTC)
• Support. On Highbeam for the last two years, I get 118 news stories for the current title. For the proposed form, I get 379 for "Kobani Syria" plus 136 for "Kobane Syria." I don't think the town has ever been in the international spotlight before, so what books published years ago might have called it is less relevant. Claimsworth (talk) 08:57, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

As you said, it was in the news yesterday, less today, and less tomorrow. What will remain from this dust storm is the actual name and the name on maps (look up Google maps). Again, ISIL might even give it a new name, who knows. Cheers. Amr ibn Kulthoumعمرو بن كلثوم (talk) 12:52, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

Please read WP:CRYSTAL.Jeppiz (talk) 15:42, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

• Support. Should be moved to Kobane immediately as per WP:UE and WP:UCN. --جیمبو دامبلی دیمبو (talk) 16:52, 9 October 2014 (UTC)
• Strong Support. Only disingenuous pov bias would keep one from realizing that the name of the article should clearly be Kobani (English spelling) with a note of the Kurdish spelling (Kobanê) and clarification that the city was formerly referred to as Ayn al-Arab.  Redthoreau -- (talk) 23:26, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

Formerly? on October 6 2014 United Nations called it Ayn al-Arab:[7] --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 23:30, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

Interesting but the UN is very concerned with sovereignty of nation states, and not common names or WP policy which seriously favors the Kurdish name. Legacypac (talk) 09:21, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

• Support Kobane or Kobani is what everybody is calling it in English language media, never heard it called by the other name. Also, as it has a predominantly Kurdish population presumably this is how it is known to the majority of its inhabitants. PatGallacher (talk) 18:21, 9 October 2014 (UTC)
• Strong support for the same reasons PatGallacher mentions. Either Kobani (Kobanî?) or Kobanê would be fine. Q·L·1968 ☿ 03:00, 10 October 2014 (UTC)
• Support whichever is the COMMONNAME. Kobane is used by BBC. (this should logically match the other articles, whichever way they need to be changed to). Widefox; talk 12:34, 11 October 2014 (UTC)
• Strong Oppose Ayn Al-Arab is a Syrian city and the sole official language in Syria is Arabic. Kobanî: Is a name derived from the German company that created the Orient Express line i 1911, it means that the Kobane name is just some 100 years old who is originally a foreign name. So the city of Ayn Al-Arab is an Arab Assyrian Syrian old city long before the Kurds inhabited it?--Uishaki (talk) 12:44, 11 October 2014 (UTC)

So once again, the official language is not what Wikipedia goes by. We use Rome, not Roma, Venice not Venezia, Copenhagen not København, Munich, not München, Lisbon not Lisbia etc. When there is a name in common usage in English, that's the name we use regardless of the official language and definitely regardless of the origin of the different names.Jeppiz (talk) 14:06, 11 October 2014 (UTC)

• Support - per WP:COMMONNAME.GreyShark (dibra) 13:43, 12 October 2014 (UTC)
• Support - per WP:COMMONNAME - but would prefer Kobane. Aa77zz (talk) 16:28, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

Wikipedia rules

It might be relevant for the discussion above to keep in mind what WP:UCN states as Wikipedia policy:
Wikipedia does not necessarily use the subject's "official" name as an article title; it prefers to use the name that is most frequently used to refer to the subject in English-language reliable sources. This includes usage in the sources used as references for the article. If the name of a person, group, object, or other article topic changes, then more weight should be given to the name used in reliable sources published after the name change than in those before the change.

All of this would seem to favour Kobane. We don't need to use the official name. We should use the name most frequently used in English references (Kobane). If the situation changes (as it has with the Syrian civil war), we should give preference to more recent WP:RS, and they almost unanimously favours Kobane. So if we want to follow Wikipedia policies (and we do), I don't see how we could not move the article to Kobane.Jeppiz (talk) 10:50, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

All of this would favour Ayn al-Arab per policy: Wikipedia is not a newspaper. We would have to look at published books before the latest events. Google books gives "Ayn al Arab" gets 20,700 hits:[8] while the false name "kobani" only gets 3,280 hits: [9]. --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 13:37, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

Jeppiz, if you are going by the common name, then ISIL might give it a different name, would we have to follow the new name then? BTW, the "Kobani Canton" (and other alleged "Cantons") should be deleted or at best merged with Ayn al-Arab District, since there is nothing on the ground with that name. It's just a political entity the YPG has invented with no international recognition what soever. Even other Kurds (Kurdish National Council and Iraqi Kurdistan) are not recognizing that. Amr ibn Kulthoumعمرو بن كلثوم (talk) 16:09, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

Again, please read WP:CRYSTAL.Jeppiz (talk) 15:42, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

Policy: Wikipedia is not a newspaper has zero to do with this discussion. We are not discussing the notability of this city or the events happening in it. Rather Naming Conventions - geographic names should guide us.

History of the Name: Took some serious searching but finally found this researched article hich says "...in the Aleppo countryside, is the Kurdish community of Kobani. (State policy Arabized this town’s name in the 1980s to ‘Ayn al-‘Arab, meaning the “spring of the Arabs.” The running joke among residents is that the town has neither Arabs nor a spring.)" Evidently "Ayn al-Arab" is a fairly recent political and ethnic driven construct over the historical name that the residents rejected. Since the State withdrew its forces from the area in July 2013, leaving the Kurds in control, it seems like the Kurds can pick the official name, and choose to keep using old name. Legacypac (talk) 09:43, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

Not a reliable source. --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 12:41, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

Supreme Deliciousness said above: "Latest events can not change the real, historical, original and official name of the town". The quoted article is by Kevin Mazur, a doctoral candidate at the Department of Politics at Princeton University and Kheder Khaddour is a visiting fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center. The organization was founded in 1971, has an expert board of directors and an editorial board filled with academics from leading universities. Rejecting http://www.merip.org/about as a reliable source shows a total lack of understanding of WP policy or good judgement and an opinion that can safely be ignored as POV. Legacypac (talk) 15:53, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

Agreed; this does look like a reliable source. Q·L·1968 ☿ 18:09, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

WP's Middle_East_Research_and_Information_Project own article on the source says: According to JSTOR, The Middle East Report "is the foremost U.S. magazine of critical analysis on the Middle East", with 25,000 US and global readers and more than 700 educational and institutional subscriptions. Legacypac (talk) 18:44, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

Well, to be fair, JSTOR hosts the MERIP Reports and Middle East Reports from 1971 to 2010, so they have a vested interest in promoting it. But Mazur and Khaddour's article can stand on its own strengths. Q·L·1968 ☿ 20:16, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

Kobani vs Kobane

I ran some searches on Kobani vs Kobane and found mixed results depending if you search news vs web and over what time period. On our articles we seem to use Kobane consistently including Syrian_Kurdistan Kobanê_Canton and Siege of Kobane and of course this page was once at Kobanê. So between the i and the e we should use the e. Legacypac (talk) 12:37, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

I agree, Kobane seems to be more common and it's consistent with usage in other articles.Jeppiz (talk) 13:00, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

English media seems to have settled on "Kobani" now. Just some examples from today:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/08/new-air-strikes-isis-pressure-win-kobani-syria-kurds-turkey

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/syria-town-of-kobani-on-turkish-border-will-fall-to-isis-turkish-leader-says-1.2789820

--Harizotoh9 (talk) 16:05, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

The English spelling would use an "i", as English does not have the letter "ě". However, that is an I sound in English. Spelling it Kobane, makes the name "Ko bane" (like Kurt the singer, ironically spelled with an i himself). However, in Kurdish Kobaně is a 3 syllable word, not 2 (which is what spelling it Kobane makes it). As such, the only two options are an "i" or an "ě". Since Wiki articles in English usually only use English letters, I'd say an "i" = Kobani, makes the most sense.  Redthoreau -- (talk) 23:52, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

I'd be happy with either an i or an e. For the record, however English Wikipedia articles routinely use non-English symbols in foreign place names; with redirects, that's not a problem. (Also it's ê not ě.) Q·L·1968 ☿ 03:00, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

No one in the world calls this place anything but Kobane. I am changing it back — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.128.104.6 (talk) 00:46, 11 October 2014 (UTC)

History of Page Moves This article was created back in 2007 but since 2012 (when the Kurds took control of the city) many editors have regularly moved it to Kobane or Kobani, usually citing COMMONNAME, so changing the name is not a new idea. The page even used the Kurdish name as late as a week ago. Defenders of the Arabic name keep moving it back without discussion, and have moved it several times during this discussion citing that 7 days have not elapsed yet. After the next move to Kobani the page should be locked because the defenders of the Arabic name fail to consider WP policy. Legacypac (talk) 21:31, 11 October 2014 (UTC)

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The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Vandalism

This IP removed the official name of the town, and falsely added that it is a "Kurdish" town, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Koban%C3%AA&diff=629644224&oldid=629643660

If no explanation can be provided I'm gonna revert this vandalism. --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 00:11, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Actually, I think it is a Kurdish town, don't think this was vandalism. I recognize it was a rather partisan edit, so ok to revert, but there may still be a better wording. PatGallacher (talk) 14:59, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Since 2012 there has been no regime forces as they withdrew and left the Kurds in control. Regime is not contesting town now. Population is 90%+ Kurdish and only 5% Arab. This is or was detailed in the article. Legacypac (talk) 17:26, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

See the decision on common name closed above. I have tagged the article that anyone that changes the names in the article will be reported for vandalism. Legacypac (talk) 23:04, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Legacypac, there is a difference between vandalism and edit wars over content disputes. Both are frowned upon, but it's worth making the distinction. Also, I have to agree with PatGallacher, if this isn't a "Kurdish town" I don't known what would be. --dab (𒁳) 19:15, 19 October 2014 (UTC)

Newspapers

There seems to be some misunderstanding of "Wikipedia is not a Newspaper", see WP:NOTNEWSPAPER. It doesn't mean that what newspapers call a town does not carry some weight in deciding what is the common name. PatGallacher (talk) 14:58, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

THE PEOPLE OF KOBANI LOST EVERYTHING. DON’T CONTRIBUTE TO THEM LOSING THE NAME OF THEIR TOWN!

KOBANI: The Name and the Origin

I was born in the district of Kobani in 1946 and it was here where I grew up and where I attended school in the early years of my life, Kobani, a Kurdish town in Northern Syria, cannot be found in Ottoman archives. The town came to existence after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. It started as a station for the German engineers and the workers who were involved in the building of the railway line “Baghdad-Berlin” in the latter years of the Ottoman Empire. As the location was on a creek and near the railway station on the Turkish side, the French later used it as a settlement for their officers and the local militia, utilising Armenian and Kurdish experts/workers to run restaurants, teahouses and bars. The location even had a bordello, as my father and people of his generation told us. The French referred to the little settlement as “Company.” Later the Kurds called the place “Kobani” (derived from “Company”).

When Syria gained independence in 1946, the Syrian authorities called it “Ain-ul-Arab.” This name that translates into “Arab Spring” or “Arab Creek” comes from the Ottoman name “Arabpinar.” This was the name of the village east of Kobani, now a part of Kobani itself. The Kurdish name is “Kaniya Ereban” that again translates into “Arab Spring.” According to what we heard from the generation of our parents it was called “Arab Spring” because the Bedouins used to bring their sheep in summer to graze in the nearby locations and the spring (now dry) was the source of the water they needed for their sheep. This practice actually continued until the turmoil started in Syria about four years ago. The Bedouins who came from the south used to purchase the fields from Kurdish farmers after harvest to graze their sheep on them. It is unfortunate that some reports are full of misinformation about what is going on in Kobani. One mistake is the misspelt name of Kobani that appears as “Kobane” in some reports. Once such mistakes become widespread it becomes harder to correct. Therefore PLEASE spell the name correctly: Kobani.

Many thanks,

Chahin Baker, Kurdish Australian educator/writer/journalist (Shahîn B. Soreklî) 15/10/2014

This message taken from personal account of Shahîn B. Sorekli.--Laser Perşikita (talk) 09:27, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

I have to second this, the "dispute" was about the Arabic vs. Kurdish name, but now we settled for the Kurdish name, we might as well spell it correctly. Especially if it is also more common. Google estimates 23M hits for "Kobane" but 45M hits for "Kobani". So I would suggest a move to Kobani. The move to "Kobanê" was based on WP:COMMONNAME, so there is really hardly any point in not moving it to the more correct name that is also even more common. --dab (𒁳) 19:19, 19 October 2014 (UTC)

To user Dekimasu

it is not your duty to change a name of a city which given by a legitimate government — Preceding unsigned comment added by Isuruwe (talk • contribs) 12:11, 19 October 2014 (UTC)

It is our "duty" to follow Wikipedia guidelines, which in this case means, use whichever name is most common in English-language sources. Governments and their legitimacy or non-legitimacy don't enter into it. --dab (𒁳) 19:12, 19 October 2014 (UTC)

Please note that although I was the administrator who closed the recent request that resulted in moving the city to Kobanê, I do not have any personal investment in calling the page by a particular name. Further, I am given to understand that "ê" is pronounced like "i" in English here, but I have no opinion about what title or spelling is "correct." If someone would like to initiate a further move request, it would make sense to include at least this page, Siege of Kobanê, and Kobanê Canton. Undiscussed forking such as that instituted by User:Isuruwe (who prefers "Ayn al-Arab") at Ayn al-Arab and any undiscussed moves like those of User:Laser Perşikita (who prefers "Kobani") at Siege of Kobanê should be treated as controversial, however. The other two pages used "Kobanê" before this one was changed. The procedure for a group move request is shown on Wikipedia:Requested moves. (Cross-posting part of this at Talk:Siege of Kobanê.) Dekimasuよ! 00:11, 20 October 2014 (UTC)

I have no stakes myself, this should really be understood implicitly. It's just about figuring out which is the most commonly used name in English. The pronunciation of ê isn't really an issue (as long as we don't give pronunciation guides), the question is just which spelling is the most commonly used. It's not really a terrible thing if some pages use Kobanê and others Kobani, as both variants is in use (and Wikipedia has tons of inconsistencies like that by the nature of the project). Of course we should ultimately aim at consistency if possible, but as it isn't an actual mistake (as in, Wikipedia hosting misinformation), it shouldn't be a top priority. (while getting rid of content forks, as you say, is very important indeed). --dab (𒁳) 07:19, 20 October 2014 (UTC)

To user Dekimasu

if you can change Syrian city name i will change japan names don't fight with me — Preceding unsigned comment added by Isuruwe (talk • contribs) 16:43, 20 October 2014 (UTC)

To Wikipedia admins

this is a Internet site or what ever you should follow international laws if Americans don't like to change their country name to ISIS Syrian government don't like to use other names which they didn't give,understand what i'm telling or wikipedia will go to international courts.