Who is mukhtar in Turkey?

Mukhtar (Arabic: مختار elect) is a municipal employee in Turkey, the headman or the head of the district. The position of mukhtar has been known since the time of the Ottoman Empire, where it was introduced in the middle of the XIX century. Mukhtars were elected by the population or appointed by the current authorities.

Citizens can contact mukhtar on absolutely all issues of interest to them. Mukhtars are engaged in the distribution of social assistance among the poor residents of their district, organizational issues in various election campaigns, organization of the elections themselves, issues of road repair and cleaning in the area, and many others. Often, residents come to Mukhtar's office not even with any specific request, but simply to "chat for life", drink 3-4 cups of hot tea, complain about prices or even relatives, i.e. Mukhtar partly performs the function of a psychologist:) In Turkey, there is even a holiday "Mukhtar's Day", which is celebrated annually on October 19th.

Every citizen can become a mukhtar A Turkish citizen who has reached the age of 25 and has lived for at least 6 months in the area in which he is running for the post of mukhtar. Each mukhtar has his own seal, so they have the right to issue various certificates requested by citizens for various purposes. Mukhtar's term of office is 5 years.

You can find out the names of mukhtars in your city as follows: enter "City/village muhtar listesi" in the search bar (For example: "Mersin muhtar listesi") and you will see the names and phone numbers of mukhtars attached to a particular area.

Mukhtars of Alanya: https://www.alanya.bel.tr/S/443/Muhtarlar