From the moment you set foot into your new home, your Kapıcı (person responsible for cleaning of a building and daily shopping) and his entire family will become your most trusted helpers. Besides your Kapıcı, the salesmen like Bakkal (small grocery), Manav (green grocer) and Kasap (butcher and poultry)scattered around your district are eager to help solve your daily problems and are there to meet your daily needs. Don’t be surprised if they consider you a family member!
Once better acquainted, a basket or shopping bag you happen to hang on your door knob will begin to mean fresh bread, milk, or anything else you require daily. Your kapıcı will be the one to pick-up your trash and dispose of it, however trash pick-up times vary from building-to-building. Body language is really all you need to communicate with this fellow or his family.

Your kapıcı's wife, often for a reasonable fee, can take care of any housecleaning you may need and if she doesn't seem to have any available days, you can be certain that she will definitely have a relative who does!

In Turkey, the person dealing with all the troubles of the apartment is called the Yönetici. He/she is selected among the inhabitants of the apartment at an annual meeting and he/she holds this post for a one-year period. In most apartments the inhabitants take turns holding this post. In some big apartments or sites this job is carried out by professional teams for an agreed payment.

The duties of the yönetici include: keeping a record of expenses, collecting rent, the general care of the garden and organizing the duties of kapıcı. If the heating of the apartment is with natural gas, the yönetici collects the amounts of the invoice against receipt. In some apartments this money is collected as cash (usually with the assistance of the kapıcı or the inhabitants directly deposit the amount into a specified bank account.

The name and the flat number of the yönetici, together with necessary information are usually written at entrance of the apartment buildings.

The official representative of the state in each district is called Muhtar. He/she is elected by the votes of the district inhabitants during general elections. Generally the candidates are retired individuals who have lived in the district for a long period of time.

The responsibilities of the Muhtar include: listing the addresses of all the people living in the district and preparing ikamet senedi (authentication of address) and nüfus sureti (authentication of birth record) two fixed certificates that are requested in almost every official employment.

When you move to a new apartment the first thing you should do is learn the address of the muhtar either from your kapıcı or yönetici. Then drop by the muhtar's office to get a registration form, which needs to be filled out and approved by your yönetici then returned to the muhtar. It is also necessary to inform the old muhtar when you leave a district and before registering in your new district.

The Muhtar is the most important authority in a village. If you live in a small village you can be certain that the muhtar can be instrumental in helping you adjust to your new environment.

It is really awesome how people cooperate together nicely in Turkish appartments. I wonder how common it is to have a person deliver fresh bread and milk to your door every day? There are some really nice things that come out of a tight society.

I have the best kapici in fulya! Fresh bread every morning when I wake up with my zeitung. And when i get home at night, fresh bread again with any veggies or other items I asked for. I leave a basket on my door with a note and its done.
He goes on holiday for 2 weeks every summer and he has a replacement come in. I realize then what a good friend and hard worker Şafak is...