17.10.2026 12:31
In the Vize district of Kırklareli, 61-year-old Ali Adnan Gülaçar has been carrying out his duties as neighborhood headman from his shoe shop for about 16 years. Taking over the role that his father, Hamit Gülaçar, held for 36 years, Gülaçar meets the paperwork and service requests of neighborhood residents from behind his shoemaking bench without needing a separate headman’s office.
Ali Adnan Gülaçar, 61, who lives in the Vize district of Kırklareli, continues the shoemaking craft he learned from his father and the neighborhood headman duty he took over in the same shop.
Gülaçar, who makes shoes in Kale Neighborhood, also took over the neighborhood headman duty that his father Hamit Gülaçar carried out for 36 years and serves the neighborhood residents.
Gülaçar, who learned shoemaking beside his father when he was only 10, worked with him in the same shop for many years.
Gülaçar, who also closely observed the understanding of serving neighborhood residents during the period his father served as headman, was elected headman after his father left the duty.
Gülaçar, who has been a headman for about 16 years, meets the neighborhood residents' requests for official documents and services from the shoe shop. Starting at his workbench in the early hours of the day, Gülaçar continues his profession on the one hand and attends to the needs of the neighborhood residents on the other.
Stating that one of the works he carried out after taking office was to restore the neighborhood's historical name, Gülaçar said that the name of the neighborhood, which had previously been changed to 'Mimar Sinan', became 'Kale Neighborhood' again after 28 years.
EVEN IF THERE IS NO SALARY, I WILL SERVE
In a statement to the AA correspondent, Gülaçar said he tries to serve the neighborhood residents by taking into account the advice he received from his father.
Stating that he does not need a separate headman's office building and that he uses the shoe shop as an office at the same time, Gülaçar said, 'We have been governing Kale Neighborhood for half a century. So we must have governed well; the citizens are satisfied. Doing this job for 56 years is a long process for a family. It is long, but the citizens are satisfied.'
Stating that he does not see being a headman merely as a duty, Gülaçar said, 'Service is an important thing; even if there is no salary, I will serve them. Because why? My father did it for 36 years, and when this term ends, it will be 20 years for me. It is a long process; I have a debt of loyalty to them, a debt of conscience. I will serve them.'
Emphasizing that he attaches importance to being reachable to the neighborhood residents, Gülaçar said, 'I tell our citizens not to come to me but to just say hello and I will come to them. When someone calls, I am at their home 10 minutes later. If a document is needed, I prepare it and take it to their home; wherever it is to be submitted, I deliver it by car.'
Explaining that during the Covid-19 pandemic he also tried to meet the needs of citizens over 65 and patients by visiting their homes, Gülaçar stated that he keeps his phone open at all hours of the day.
SERVICE TO THE ELDERLY AND STUDENTS
Noting that he takes care to support the education of children in the neighborhood and that in the past he served for 15 years as president of the school-parent association and in association managements, Gülaçar said that being a headman is an important field of service, especially for the elderly, disabled people, students, and those in need.
Gülaçar said, 'When we meet the needs of the elderly, the disabled, and those in need, we are proud of these things, and this relaxes us at the same time. Being a headman means serving students and relieving the troubles of the poor and needy. These are very beautiful things.'
I WANTED TO DO BETTER THAN MY FATHER
Stating that his father was a role model for him and that he tries to carry forward the understanding of service his father left behind, Gülaçar explained that although transportation opportunities were limited in the past, his father provided service even at night by walking to meet the neighborhood residents' document requests.
Expressing that today's communication and transportation opportunities make it possible to respond to citizens' needs more quickly, Gülaçar said, 'I wanted to do better than my father. Because why? A mistake I make would make people say that they could not educate Hamit's child. I tried not to make that mistake.'
Emphasizing that he tries to continue his father's understanding of service, Gülaçar noted that he strives to deliver more quickly today, using vehicle opportunities, the services his father carried out on foot.