mukhtar
(ˈmʊktɑː(r))
Also muhtar, muktar.
[ad. Arab. mukhtār chosen.]
The head of the local government of a town or village in Turkey; a minor provincial official. Hence ˈmukhtarship, the status or office of a mukhtar.
| 1911 T. E. Lawrence Let. 21 May (1938) 104 The Muktar carried off his cousin on his saddle-bow from amid the shrieking women at the spring. 1916 ― Lett. (1938) 209 Two Mukhtars and two prominent sheikhs. 1946 [see dunam]. 1946 Koestler Thieves in Night 122 The British rulers had always appointed the most distinguished member of each of the two clans to dual mukhtarship. 1954 F. Stark Ionia 65 The mukhtar and the doctor from Pitane..came to give the city's welcome. 1970 Guardian 1 Apr. 4/2 The ‘muhtar’ (local official) of the village of Kakoy. 1974 Times 5 Apr. 16/4 The Mukhtar..explained: ‘..we are Druse and we will never leave our land.’ |