Muhtar (title)

This article is about village and neighbourhood headmen in Turkey. For Arabic name, see Mukhtar.

Muhtar is the elected village head in villages of Turkey. In cities, likewise, each quarter has a muhtar but with a slightly different status. Muhtars and their village councils (Turkish: Azalar or İhtiyar heyeti) are elected during local elections for five years. However, political parties are not permitted to stand candidates for these posts.

Rural muhtars

In each village, muhtar is the highest elected authority of the village. (There is no mayor in a village.) According to the Law 442, [1] tasks of the muhtars are in two groups: compulsory tasks are about public health, primary school education, security and notification of public announcements, etc. Noncompulsory tasks depend on the demands of village residents.

Urban muhtars

In each town there are several neighbourhoods. In medium-sized cities, there may be tens of neighbourhoods, and in big cities, the number may exceed well over 100. Each has a muhtar. Urban muhtars have fewer tasks than rural muhtars [2] like registering the residents of the quarter and providing official copies of birth certificates and ID cards.

References

  1. ↑ The law (from Turkish Wikisource)
  2. ↑ An essay on the tasks ((Turkish))
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