Mesudiye Village biography
Longest-Serving Muhtar (1999-2019)
Mesudiye's longest-serving muhtar — 20 unbroken years from 1999 to 2019, a village record. Modernised village infrastructure during his tenure.
Cengiz Özşahines served as muhtar of Mesudiye for 20 unbroken years (1999-2019) — the longest tenure in the village's muhtar chronology dating back to 1939.
During his time, he introduced the first kantar (weighbridge) to the village, oversaw the transition from vertical to horizontal grain storage, and represented Mesudiye in official capacities, including a documented meeting with Karaman Governor Tapsız.
His leadership style combined institutional stewardship with personal accessibility, characteristic of long-term village muhtars.
Muhtar, 1999–2019
Son of Ömer Özşahines, a gazi (war veteran) of the Korean War
20 Years as Muhtar
Village Record
The First Kantar
Son of Ömer Özşahines, a gazi of the Korean War. With 20 unbroken years in office he set the record among the village muhtars; the second-longest term is 7 years.
Cengiz Özşahines was elected muhtar of the village of Mesudiye in 1999 and carried on in this office for 20 unbroken years until 2019. This is the longest term of office as muhtar recorded in the history of the village; considering that the other muhtars served for 7 years at most, the difference is quite striking.
During his term as muhtar he brought concrete innovations to the village: he had a kantar (weighbridge) installed in the village for the first time, enabling farmers to weigh their produce on the spot, and he modernised the infrastructure by moving the water storage system from an elevated tank to a horizontal tank.
As the son of Ömer Özşahines, a gazi of the Korean War, Cengiz represents the family's deep-rooted position, in which the history of war and the tradition of administration are interwoven.
Term of office: 1999–2019
Length of service: 20 years (village record)
Second-longest term: 7 years (Hilmi Gönen, Mustafa Bayraktar)
Kinship: son of Ömer Özşahines (Korean War gazi)
What he brought to the village: the first kantar · horizontal water tank
Prominent events of his era: the EU harmonisation process · the AKP coming to power in 2002 · the 2017 constitutional referendum