Famagusta Namık Kemal High School is a

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

located in

Famagusta Famagusta ( , ; el, Αμμόχωστος, Ammóchostos, ; tr, Gazimağusa or ) is a city on the east coast of Geography of Cyprus, Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia District, Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. Duri ...

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...

. It was founded in 1944. Many famous Cypriots have graduated from Famagusta Namık Kemal High School.

History

As the first Turkish Cypriot secondary education institution in Famagusta, the school was initially founded as the Famagusta Middle School ( tr, Mağusa Ortaokulu) in 1944. It was initially a single room appended to the Gazi Primary School building. On opening, the school had 60 students. Once it reached 72 students in 1945, it moved to its own separate building; in 1949, it moved to the Kutup Osman Tekke building. The British colonial government of the time provided the monetary resources required to expand middle schools with a further three year groups, thus establishing high schools in the process. With the instigation of Niyazi Manyera, the Famagusta Middle School was expanded in 1953 and renamed after Namık Kemal, the Turkish nationalist poet who had been imprisoned in Famagusta. By 1959, the school had 2,000 students. In December 1961, the students of the school undertook strike action and refused to attend school in protest of the Turkish Cypriot Communal Assembly and its educational policies. After the incident made national news, the parents wrote a letter to Rauf Denktaş, the head of the Assembly, apologising, and stating they would ensure their children returned to school. Owing to its historical status, the high school has one of the largest libraries in Famagusta, but keeps this library closed to the public.

Notable alumni

* Derviş Eroğlu, third president of

* Derviş Zaim, award-winning film director *

Oktay Kayalp Oktay Kayalp was born in 1957 in Famagusta, Cyprus, he received his primary schooling at Canbulat Ilkokulu and secondary education at the city's prestigious Famagusta Namık Kemal High School. Upon completion of his secondary school, Kayalp gradua ...

, former mayor of

Oz Karahan Oz Karahan is a Cypriot political activist, columnist and current president of the Union of Cypriots. Life and political career Born in 1990, Oz Karahan spent his youth in Famagusta before moving back to Larnaca where part of his family origin ...

, current president of the

Union of Cypriots The Union of Cypriots ( el, Ένωσις Κυπρίων; tr, Kıbrıslılar Birliği) is a progressive and Cypriot nationalist political organization in Cyprus. The Union of Cypriots campaigns for a unitary Cypriot state, the restoration of the ...

Beran Bertuğ Beran Bertuğ served as the ''kaymakam'' of the Gazimağusa District of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. She was the first woman to hold this post. Born on 6 October 1956 in Famagusta, Cyprus, Bertuğ finished the city's established Gaz ...

, former governor of

* Turgay Avcı, former deputy prime minister of

* İsmet Kotak, former Cabinet minister of

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Famagusta Namik Kemal High School Schools in Northern Cyprus Educational institutions established in 1944 1944 establishments in Cyprus Famagusta