Founding family · Karabağlar tribe
Three-term muhtar family
The Say family produced Kazım Say, who served as muhtar three separate times across two decades (1950-1953, 1963-1968, 1971-1973). The Say family was also part of the Mesudiyespor footballing tradition.
The Say family produced the most striking figure in the political history of Mesudiye village. Kazım Say was elected muhtar (village head) by renewing the villagers' trust in three separate terms. This repeated choice is concrete proof of the family's trustworthiness and effectiveness in village society. The family's presence in the sporting sphere continued with Nazif Say's goalkeeping for Mesudiyespor.
Kazım Say was elected muhtar in three separate terms in the village's history. No other muhtar has been able to break this record. Renewing the villagers' trust from election to election represents an extraordinary political achievement.
First term: 1950–1953 — 3 years
Second term: 1963–1968 — 5 years
Third term: 1971–1973 — 2 years
The years separating the three terms from one another are also striking: between the first and second terms there is a gap of 10 years, while between the second and third there is a gap of only 3 years. Different muhtars served in each interval, but in the end the villagers returned once again to Kazım Say.
A total of roughly 11 years in the office of muhtar and election in three separate terms — Kazım Say is the most frequently nominated and elected muhtar of Mesudiye. In terms of duration only Cengiz Özşahines (20 years) has surpassed him, but in the number of terms Say's three terms are an unbroken record.
While the family's political leadership reached its peak with Kazım Say, in the following generation Nazif Say contributed to the village's football life as a goalkeeper. Guarding the goal for the Mesudiyespor of the 1980s, Nazif Say is one of the important names of the period in which the team beat Karamanspor and Başakspor.
The goalkeeper is the last line of defence in football and the position that carries the most responsibility. Guarding the goal in front of captain Zeki Erdoğdu, Nazif Say was the cornerstone of the team's defensive reliability. Together with the Gönen brothers (Necdet and Nazım) in the same squad, they formed a solid back line.
The Say family's role in the village is built on the concept of political trustworthiness. Kazım Say's election as muhtar three times is the concrete expression of the trust the villagers felt towards a particular family. This trust was reinforced by the family contributing to the village not only in the political sphere but in the sporting sphere as well.
With a record of three terms as muhtar, which no family has reached in the number of terms, the Say family holds a privileged place in Mesudiye's political history.
Say: 3 terms as muhtar (record) + 1 Mesudiyespor goalkeeper
Gönen: 2 muhtars + 2 Mesudiyespor players
Tezcan: 2 muhtars (across generations)
Erdoğdu: 1 muhtar (the first) + 1 Mesudiyespor captain
As one of Mesudiye's 54 surnames, the Say family has displayed a unique example of continuity in the village's political history. To produce a muhtar for three terms is the strongest indicator of the trust the people expressed through elections. The sporting contribution reinforced by Nazif Say's goalkeeping completes the family's many-sided presence in Mesudiye society.