Çotuk

The Çotuk family stands at the centre of the founding story of Mesudiye village. Descended from the Karabağlar oymak (tribal branch), this family gained the status of the village's symbolic family thanks to Çotuk Ahmet Efendi, who took the first step into the Durayda area in the years when the village did not even have a name yet and who drew his fellow townsmen there. Through both the muhtar (village head) tradition and its present-day membership of the ihtiyar heyeti (council of elders), the family has sustained its presence in the village administration for generations.

Helper in the founding of the village

Many members of the Karabağlar oymak who came from Bulgaria to Anatolia in the 1906–1907 wave of migration stopped over at a han (inn) in Konya. At this point Çotuk Ahmet Efendi acted independently of the other migrants, went to the Durayda area and established that it was suitable for settlement.

He found his fellow townsmen waiting at the han in Konya and gave them this invitation: “Come here, there is plenty of empty land in Durayda.”

This simple invitation changed the course of history. As a result of Ahmet Efendi's call, 94 households headed for the Durayda area and founded today's Mesudiye village. Had this invitation not been made, the village would in all likelihood have been founded in another region, or not at all.

Although Çotuk Ahmet Efendi does not appear in the official records as “founder of the village”, he lives on in the village's memory as the decisive figure who helped the village come into being by directing his fellow townsmen to Durayda.

Kadir Çotuk, a descendant of Çotuk Ahmet Efendi, took on the office of village muhtar between 1962 and 1963. The participation of the founder's grandchildren in the village administration reinforced the family's symbolic position in the village.

Abdurrahim Çotuk, who served as muhtar in 1968, is the family's second representative in the village administration. The election of two different members of the founding family as muhtar reflects the deep trust the people placed in this family.

Cüneyt Çotuk, one of the current members of the village ihtiyar heyeti (council of elders), keeps the founding family's bond with the village administration alive today as well. The family's decisive role in the village's history is carried on through successive generations.

Although the Çotuk family is one of the 54 surnames of Mesudiye village, it holds a special place. The legacy of Çotuk Ahmet Efendi, who was decisive in the decision to found the village, is kept alive by two muhtars and one member of the ihtiyar heyeti. For the villagers the Çotuk family is not merely a sülale (lineage); it is the symbol of the village's very existence.