Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2007 June 28

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June 28

Kalantaryan

The name Kalantaryan (Калантарян) was recently added in Sergey Lavrov. This article ("Sergey Lavrov has georgian roots, but armenian blood") says he is the son of an armenian from Georgia (country). Is this his fathers name? -- Cherubino 21:34, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

It seems to have been added to both the English and Russian articles on June 12 by IP editors. There's no explanation given. A google search didn't shed any light on it, either (nothing but Wikipedia and Wikipedia-derived stuff). Weird. --Reuben 22:37, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

I know that the previous foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, is half-Georgian. He knows the language well and used to mediate between Georgia and Abkhazia. As for Lavrov, the claim in Russian Wikipedia is taken from an Azerbaijani online resource which cites an Armenian newspaper's report about Lavrov's press conference in Yerevan. Given the parlous state of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, the issue is very touchy and the sources are not very reliable. --Ghirla^-трёп- 19:44, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

It was me who removed the claim from the article. I'm lazy to do the research again, but I did find (I think) WP:RS (does this one count? [1]) to confirm that his father is an Armenian from Tbilisi; but nothing about the surname "Kalantari(y)an". Apparently, Karine Kalantarian is an Armenian journalist specialized for foreign relations ([2]); I don't know if someone confused the two or it's just a coincidence. Duja► 15:04, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

I raised the issue in Russian Wikipedia, asking to investigate the situation. Nobody has been able to produce anything better than Lavrov's statement about his Armenian roots. The Kalantaryan connection was not substantiated as well. --Ghirla^-трёп- 16:40, 3 July 2007 (UTC)