Eastern Mediterranean University

The Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU; Turkish: Doğu Akdeniz Üniversitesi) is a public university in Northern Cyprus, was established in 1979, led by Onay Fadıl Demirciler, who was then the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education.^[2] Initially founded as a technology-focused higher-education institution for Turkish Cypriots, it was granted state university status in 1986. The university's campus is situated within the city of Famagusta.

Eastern Mediterranean University

Doğu Akdeniz Üniversitesi
Motto	"Virtue, Knowledge, Advancement"
Type	Public
Established	1979; 46 years ago (1979)
Rector	Hasan Kılıç[1]
Students	18,000
Location	Famagusta, (Turkish: Gazimağusa) , Northern Cyprus
Campus	Urban
Language	English, Turkish
Website	www.emu.edu.tr

The university boasts 141 programs across 12 Faculties and 4 Schools, offering a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, supported by substantial research infrastructure. Instruction is provided in both Turkish and English, with an English Preparatory School available to help students enhance their English proficiency.^[3]

University rankings
Eastern Mediterranean University
Global – Overall
THE World[4]	501–600 (2023)
USNWR Global[5]	782 (2023)
Regional – Overall
QS Emerging Europe and Central Asia[6]	175 (2022)

Campus

Library

• 
  Library's main entrance. The building was finished in 1994.
• 
  Inside View from the 3rd Floor of the Library
• 
  EMU Library's European Union Corner
• 
  A pathway from the library towards central campus

Sports

The campus boasts a variety of sports facilities, including tennis and basketball courts, AstroTurf football pitches, and an outdoor athletics stadium. Additionally, the Lala Mustafa Pasha indoor sports center, another key facility on campus, hosts major sporting and cultural events.^[7]

Social activities

Eastern Mediterranean University owns a radio station on 106.5 FM called Radio EMU broadcasting to the whole island.^[8]

International outreach

Mechanical Engineering, one of the oldest buildings in the campus

Eastern Mediterranean University is a full member of several international associations of universities, including the European University Association, the Caucasus University Association,^[9] and the International Association of Universities.^[10] It has gained accreditation for Turkish students from the Council of Higher Education and the Turkish Cypriot higher education organization, while maintaining its independent status through its non-profit foundation.^[11][12]

Eastern Mediterranean University has ranked in the top 50 universities of the world in the Times Higher Education International Student Table,^[13] reaching 4th place in the world in 2024 with 74.8% international students.^[14] It also boasts international faculty members from countries including the UK,^[15] Russia,^[16] Hungary,^[17] Iran,^[18] and Pakistan.^[19] 16 Scientists across the Eastern Mediterranean University feature in Stanford/Elsevier's latest Top 2% Scientist Rankings.^[20]

Accreditations

At least 55 programs at Eastern Mediterranean University and the associated English preparatory school have received accreditations, from 13 different international bodies.^[21] These include:

• ABET accreditation of several bachelor's programs at the Faculty of Engineering (Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Management Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering and Software Engineering)
• ASIIN [de] accreditation of associate degree programs in Biomedical Equipment Technology, Computer Programming, Electrical and Electronics Technology, Mapping and Cadastral Survey and Construction Technology, bachelor's programs in Information Systems and Technologies (in Turkish), Information Technology (in English) and Molecular Biology and Genetics (in English), and master's programs in Information Technology and Medical Biotechnology.
• AQAS accreditation of bachelor's programs in Pre-School Teacher Education (in Turkish), English Language Teaching (in English), and Interior Architecture (in both Turkish and English).
• FIBAA accreditation of bachelor's programs in Banking and Insurance, Finance and Banking, International Finance, Business Administration, Human Resource Management, International Trade and Business, Management Information System, Marketing, Public Administration, Economics, International Relations, Political Science, Tourism and Hospitality Management, and a master's program in Tourism Management.

All programs at the university are accredited by the Turkish Council of Higher Education (YÖK) and by the corresponding institution of Northern Cyprus, Yükseköğretim Planlama, Denetleme, Akreditasyon ve Koordinasyon Kurulu [tr].^[22]

Rankings

Aerial view of the indoor facility

Eastern Mediterranean University was included in the 601-800 band in the 2025 Times Higher Education World University Rankings of global universities, featuring over 2,000 institutions from 115 countries and territories across the world.^[23] This made it the top university in Northern Cyprus on this list, a position it has held consistently for many years.^[24][25] It also ranks in equal fifth place among Turkish universities on this list, after Koç University, Middle East Technical University, and Sabancı University (all in the 351-400 band) and Istanbul Technical University (in the 501-600 band).^[26] Also, the 2025 QS World University Rankings evaluated Eastern Mediterranean University within the 611-620 band, among more than 1,500 universities from 105 countries.^[27][28]

Controversies

A North Cypriot Newspaper, Cyprus Today, published two articles in 2008, featuring allegations of mobbing and bullying at the school, particularly against foreign faculty.

View of the library in fall 2007

In the first article, the newspaper quoted the allegations of an ex-faculty member who claimed that he was forced to resign after he was harassed, professionally sabotaged, and the victim of false allegations (of which he was later exonerated after appealing to international organizations). The School administration denied the allegations and stated that the allegations were "Utterly false and that no such thing has occurred and nothing can be substantiated". A spokesman for the Worker's union said they were not aware of that particular faculty member's situation, but had experienced similar problems concerning other faculty members.^[29]

Faculty of Arts and Sciences' main entrance

In the second article, the newspaper reported about the penalizing of a British Faculty member, who was removed from the position of department chair for undisclosed reasons. The faculty member declined to comment, as did the university administration.^[30]

On 9 September 2009, Eastern Mediterranean University's rector was dismissed by the University Senate. The university's board of trusties unanimously ratified the decision on 11 September.^[31] No reason was ever given publicly for the dismissal, as the rector was replaced by Abdullah Y. Öztoprak. The rector's dismissal was finally declared illegal by the Supreme Administrative Court on 14 July 2010.^[32] On 13 March 2011, The Upper Supreme Administrative Court rejected the decision of the lower Supreme Administrative Court and decided that the rector of Eastern Mediterranean University is Abdullah Y. Öztoprak.^[33]

Notable people

• Plestia Alaqad — Palestinian journalist
• Buğra Gülsoy — Actor
• Arran Fernandez — British mathematician
• Ebru Polat — Singer
• Mehmet Harmancı — Mayor of the Nicosia Turkish Municipality
• Mehmet Muş — MP in Turkey, Minister of Trade (2021—2023)
• Bülent Turan — MP in Turkey
• Skip Norman — African American filmmaker, visual anthropologist and educator
• Mustafa Halilsoy — Turkish Cypriot Physicist
• Ali Övgün — Turkish Cypriot Physicist