Changing Spouses in the Village Headmanship

An unusual flag change took place in Yıldızlı Neighborhood in the district of Akçaabat in Trabzon. In the elections held on March 31, candidate Sema Can took over the muhtarship seat from her husband Ufuk Can. Ufuk Can, who served as the muhtar in Yıldızlı Neighborhood for 2 terms, handed over the muhtarship seat to his wife Sema Can through a change of roles.On March 31, 2024, an interesting flag change took place in Yıldızlı Neighborhood in the district of Akçaabat, Trabzon. The winner of the 5-candidate muhtarship election was the only female candidate, Sema Can. Sema Can, one of the first female muhtars in the district, took over the muhtarship seat in an uncommon flag change. Ufuk Can, who became the muhtar of Yıldızlı Neighborhood in the 2014 election and was removed from office due to a past file after serving for 2 terms, could not run again, so he wanted his wife Sema Can to become the muhtar. Supported by the neighborhood residents, Sema Can became the muhtar by winning the majority of votes. Starting her duty as the muhtar in a neighborhood with approximately 14,000 residents, Sema Can implemented a project in her first 3 months. Muhtar Can gained the appreciation of the neighborhood residents by launching the Traditional Public Market project targeting women.Expressing her journey, Muhtar Sema Can stated, ‘Before me, my husband Ufuk Can was the muhtar for two terms. Then he left, he quit. But the people of Yıldızlı loved Ufuk Can very much. They always appreciated his successes. They expressed their desire to continue with us. They approached Ufuk Bey with such a proposal. When Ufuk Bey came and asked me, ‘Mrs. Sema, the people of Yıldızlı brought us this proposal, what do you think?’ as a woman, I first thought a lot. It is a big responsibility and the neighborhood is important. But I said to myself, Sema, you can succeed in this too. You have achieved many things before. In this sense, we embarked on this path. The people of Yıldız, as promised, stood by us. They wanted to see us as their muhtars again. They did not withhold their support. We rightfully returned to this duty. I receive very nice reactions, especially from women. They are very pleased saying, ‘We decided for you, we supported you, Mrs. Sema. As long as you are here, we are always behind you.’ They always come to me as supporters. I promise them as a woman. I promised to do more things especially for women. I took the first step in this regard. I established a public market for our women in the neighborhood. The project is progressing well to provide job opportunities for our women. Everyone is happy. We aim to implement more advanced and better projects in the future. We will work wholeheartedly towards this. Ufuk Bey is also supporting us, thanks to him. He has 10 years of experience in this regard. We cannot ignore that. For now, things are going well.”News I received indicates the residents are pleased’Sema Can, mentioning that she receives support from her husband Ufuk Can, stated, ‘There is no one Ufuk Bey doesn’t know. He guides us. He knows the neighborhood, the people. In this regard, he always guides me saying, ‘Mrs. Sema, it should be like this, if you proceed this way, it will be better.’ We add a bit of our femininity to this. The news I receive indicates that the residents are pleased. As long as they are satisfied, I am content. Now, the people of Yıldızlı come very warmly and can share all their suggestions with me. We couldn’t think that they could comfortably approach the muhtar’s office because I am a woman. But they still see that smile in your eyes on the day of the election, Mrs. Sema. We understood that this was not artificial. They say, ‘You are a sincere woman,’ and feel comfortable with you all the time. They ask me for roads. They want a park, frankly. They want a beach where they can stroll comfortably. Our Yıldızlı TOKI region wants a health center. We approached them on this matter. We had our meetings. We will not leave it behind. For now, these are the requests. I think more demands will come in the coming days. Because we are a muhtar for only three months.”A profession that requires responsibility’Emphasizing that she tries to do more than her best, Sema Can said, ‘When Ufuk Bey was the muhtar, we are a family of three children. There were problems in the house and I needed support, but Ufuk Bey was always busy. I used to hint at him constantly why he was so busy since I wasn’t involved. But now I understand that one’s mind is very occupied. Very busy. Now I understand him. It is a profession that requires responsibility. The troubles of the neighborhood become your troubles. I feel sorry when I cannot find a solution for someone after solving another one. Therefore, the responsibility is huge. In this regard, I understand Ufuk Bey. But I am trying to do more than my best, and I will continue to do so until the end.’Ufuk Can: ‘I believe she will carry the flag better than us’Former muhtar of Yıldızlı Neighborhood, Ufuk Can, expressed his belief that his wife Sema Can will carry the flag better, saying, ‘It is a very proud moment for us. In 2014 when we became muhtar, the people of Yıldızlı Neighborhood were pleased with us. We won by a large margin. We did good services from 2014 to 2019. As a result, we ran for re-election in 2019 as the only candidate without facing opponents. We served until the 3rd month of 2023. Due to a penalty received for a file from the past, we were removed from duty. The people of Yıldızlı Neighborhood wanted the muhtarship to remain with us, as Mrs. Sema also mentioned. They said, ‘We are pleased with you. If there is someone in your family who can do this job, nominate them, and we will be with you, support you.’ I talked to my wife, discussed this offer with Sema Hanım, and I already trusted her. I also believed that she would do this job better than me. I believe she will carry the flag better than us. Of course, there are opinion leaders in our neighborhood, and we consulted with them. They approved of our idea. In this way, we nominated Sema Hanım. Our people stood by us. They deserve thanks. The flag stayed with us.”My grandfather was a muhtar in this neighborhood for 25 years’Ufuk Can, stating that his grandfather also served as a muhtar for 25 years in Yıldızlı Neighborhood, said, ‘To be frank, I was not very excited because I was very confident that we would win the election. Mrs. Sema was a bit excited because it was her first election. I was very calm and very confident that we would win. Because when I look back at my past, I did good services to our neighborhood. Our neighborhood consists of 5 regions. We have a service in each region. Our last service was the arrival of natural gas to the TOKI region. I had significant efforts in that. We also had services in Sera Lake and Çatırdağ. Thanks to the people. They are loyal people. Those who are loyal wanted us to remain as muhtar. We continued as muhtars. Mrs. Sema has been doing this job very well for the past 3 months. I believe that Mrs. Sema will surpass me at the end of one year. My grandfather was a muhtar in this neighborhood for 25 years. After our grandfather, it came back to us after 30 years. There was a 30-year gap in between. We are continuing our grandfather’s profession. There is a nice approach from the people, saying, ‘We don’t have a muhtar in our family, let it be your spouse, your child, or even your children, it doesn’t matter. Just show us a goal, and we are with you. That’s how it happened. I thought about Mrs. Sema. I talked to her. She also thought a lot. While she was thinking, I consulted with the opinion leaders. Thanks to God, they supported us. We set out on this path. The transition of muhtarship from husband to wife may be a first in Turkey. It really made us proud. We are always here for service. We will always be by the side of our citizens for service. We will not do this with arrogance. We will continue our duty in a modest way. We will try to serve our neighborhood in the best possible way. The neighborhood is happy, we are happy.’