Neighbourhood mukhtar's role on neighbourhood's issuexamples of Aksaray

Neighborhoods are the smallest governmental units of the cities. Mukhtars are the governors of the neighborhoods in Turkey. This units were established in Ottoman Empire period and they continued their existance since then. Although their tasks and functions had changed in time, the need for neighborhood mukhtars remained. This study begins with the process concerning the history of neighborhood government prior to the establishment of neighborhood mukhtars and followed by the observation of the changes they underwent since their establishment. These governmental units, which were abolished in the first years of Turkish Republic and then reestablished, were subjected to lots of legal regulations to turn them into existing state. The chapters concerning neighborhoods in international texts were touched on. Also, the importance of the neighborhood in modern society was tried to be elucidated. Due to this reason, an area survey was realized so as to see what kind of role neighborhood mukhtars undertake in the resolution of the problems. Within the scope of the area survey, semi-structured in-debt interviews with ten mukhtars in Aksaray were made and recordings were narrated in the text. It is concluded that roles of mukhtars in the resolution of problems change according to the personal qualities of the mukhtars, yet, mukhtars are the actors in the resolution of the problems in general sense. It is also apparent that the institutions mukhtars get in contact are as important as their personal qualities in the process of making actual the role they undertake as actors.