Modify the /etc/rc.d/init.d/mysql script to include the following parameters as daemon options:

--character-sets-dir=/usr/share/mysql/charsets
--default-character-set=latin5
The default character sets directory might vary with each installation.

Partial mysqld start script which includes above options:

if test -x $bindir/safe_mysqld
        then
      # Give extra arguments to mysqld with the my.cnf file. This script may
      # be overwritten at next upgrade.
      
      t1="--character-sets-dir=/usr/share/mysql/charsets"
      t2="--default-character-set=latin5"
      $bindir/safe_mysqld --datadir=$datadir --pid-file=$pid_file $t1 $t2 &
      
      # Make lock for RedHat / SuSE
      if test -w /var/lock/subsys
          then
          touch /var/lock/subsys/mysql
      fi
else
      echo "Can't execute $bindir/safe_mysqld"
fi