Mehrdad is more of an expert about who Mehrdad is than I am: Mehrdad Dəmirçi’s answer to Who is Mehrdad Dəmirçi?
I can only answer with what I know:
- He is an Azeri Iranian.
- He is inquisitive.
- He has a subdued sense of humour.
- He asks me lots of A2As about Iranians, Azeris, Turks, and the context around them.
- I actually know very little about Iranians, Azeris, Turks, and the context around them, so I can’t often answer his A2As. But as a neighbour’s neighbour, I truly appreciate the questions, and sometimes I do try and give a well-thought out answer. (Even if they’re not always well-informed.)
- His surname (“Smith”) has the same etymology as that as the main fiddler of my home town, Γιάννης Δερμιτζάκης (“Dermidzo-yannis”: Yannis Dhermidzakis, Greek and Turkish for “John Smith”). So I feel I’ve already met him somewhere, and I expect him to be playing a Kemenche with sleighbells. (See: Cretan lyra)
- Oh, and he is a good looking man. I mean, seriously:
Lock up your daughters.