An applaudable action from the muhtar

In the Sarıseki neighborhood of İskenderun district in Hatay, neighborhood head Özcan Kayar announced through posters in his neighborhood that he would distribute his muhtar salary as scholarships to students. Muhtar Kayar stated that he has been providing scholarships to students for 10 years and that he would distribute his entire salary obtained from being a muhtar.

Özcan Kayar, 58 years old and living in the Sarıseki neighborhood with a population of 7,000, became the new muhtar of the neighborhood by winning with a difference of 97 votes against his closest rival. After the local elections, muhtar Kayar, who started working in his neighborhood which is the size of a district, won the hearts of the residents with his recent gesture. Not forgetting the students affected by the disaster in Sarıseki, one of the regions negatively impacted by the calamity of the century, the muhtar decided to donate his salary as scholarships to students. He announced this decision through posters to the neighborhood residents.

“I have been providing scholarships to university students for 10 years without naming anyone and without advertising”
Muhtar Özcan Kayar stated that 32 students from his neighborhood have been accepted into universities and that there are students living in his neighborhood who are studying at world-renowned universities. He said, “Sarıseki is a small neighborhood with a population of about 7,000. In Sarıseki, we have two students from Oxford, one from Manhattan University, and three from METU (Middle East Technical University). I don’t want to specify the engineering, architecture, and education faculties. We have 32 students who have been accepted into universities. To address the social and economic aspects of these university students, I will give my entire muhtar salary, down to the last penny, as scholarships to university students. We have a concept, for example, the amounts for scholarships in fields like medicine, pharmacy, architecture, and engineering will be different. The scholarship amounts I will provide to our students will vary. For about 10 years, I have already been giving scholarships to university students without naming anyone or advertising. I did not expect anything in return from the students I have supported; in fact, even though I became a candidate in the last 5 months, I continued to provide scholarships. I did not ask for votes from the students, so our current strategy is to definitely provide educational scholarships to all students studying in Sarıseki. If our salary is not sufficient, I will find a way to finance the economic aspect of that as well,” he said.

41-year-old neighborhood resident Tayfur Sezik expressed that this behavior should set an example for other politicians, saying, “We are very happy. We are very pleased with our muhtar, thank you very much. I hope this sets an example for other managers, muhtars, mayors, and parliamentarians.”

60-year-old neighborhood resident İhsan Saygılı stated that the muhtar’s actions are exemplary and said, “I think this effort by our muhtar will be a good example to employers, other muhtars, and mayors. I have a daughter, but I want these scholarships to be given to the children of our friends who have fewer resources; I believe it would be better because every student who studies is better than remaining ignorant for us.”