Themuhtar (Arabic:مختار,romanized: mukhtār,lit. 'chosen one';Greek:μουχτάρης) was a civilian administrator, a type of lessermayor, in villages and neighbourhoods in theOttoman Empire. It was adopted into the local administration ofTurkey as a village or neighbourhood mayor. It also exists as a honorific for clan elders inGaza.
In 1914 themuhtar, as a civilian administrator of a village or neighbourhood (mahala), mobilized people toWorld War I, as per new conscription regulations.[1] This made themuhtar representing state authority at the lowest level.[1] Recruitment offices conducted procedures at district level while themuhtar gathered the men and provided demographic data.[1]
Amuhtar is the elected village head invillages of Turkey and in villages ofthe Turkish occupied part of the Republic of Cyprus. Incities, likewise, each neighbourhood has a muhtar but with a slightly different status. Muhtars and their village councils (Turkish:Azalar or İhtiyar heyeti) are elected duringlocal elections for five years. However,political parties are not permitted to nominate candidates for these posts.
In each village, the muhtar is the highest elected authority of the village as there is nomayor in a village. According to theVillage Law,[2] 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.
In eachtown there are several neighbourhoods. In medium-sized cities, there may be tens of neighbourhoods, and in big cities the number may exceed well over a hundred. Each has a muhtar. Urban muhtars have fewer tasks than rural muhtars,[3] ranging from registering the residents of the quarter, to providing official copies of birth certificates and identification cards.
In Palestine, themukhtar is a village chief, based on "an old institution that goes back to the time of theOttoman rule".[4] According to Amir S. Cheshin, Bill Hutman andAvi Melamed, the mukhtar "for centuries were the central figures".[5] They "were not restricted to Muslim communities"; even "Christian and Jewish communities in the Arab world also had mukhtars."[5] Mukhtars are headmen or clan elders. They traditionally linked villagers with the state bureaucracy. Some of the mukhtar’s duties included registering life events (births, marriages, etc.) and notarizing documents.[6] QuotingTore Bjørgo: "The mukhtar was, among other things, responsible for collecting taxes and ensuring that law and order was prevailing in his village".[7]
British rulers in Palestine before Israel's establishment in 1948 depended on mukhtars to rule. In Gaza, there are still dozens of families that function as powerful clans. These families derive their influence from overseeing businesses and have the allegiance of hundreds to thousands of relatives. The leader of each family is known as a mukhtar.[8]
