In March 2015 I was travelling near Adana, when I received a mail from the USA by a former pupil who started his school life in 1949, the year I started life whatsoever. He was glad to have found a picture of his primary school, the Inkılap Ilkokulu, on my site. I decided that when back in Adana I'd try and take some more pictures. When at the school entrance I met the head teacher, who kindly showed me around. It was after school hours, but a group of pupils was rehearsing for a dance, so you may see empty classrooms inside, but lots of pupils on the courtyard, in complicated groupings.
I don’t usually present a school this massively, but I like this style of building, and it was fun to note details, like some of the notices, or the bonsai collection of the head teacher.

He explained much of the school was in its original state, though some parts, like the stairs I show, had been changed after a 1998 earthquake. He also told me there is a movie (available on YouTube) about (or involving) the history of the school, named Zıkkımın kökü. I did find it, but do not provide the link because that may change. From YouTube I quote: "Published on Jul 31, 2012

Zıkkımın Kökü, Muzaffer İzgü'nün Adana'daki bir gecekondu mahallesinde geçen çocukluğunu anlatan romanıdır. Yer yer mizah, yer yer dram ögeleri yer almaktadır. Kitapta yazar, yoksulluk içinde geçen çocukluk ve gençlik dönemini anlatmaktadır. Okuyucu, yazarın sürükleyici anlatımıyla onun ilk aşkıyla tanışır, ayrılıklarını izler, acılarını hisseder ve ailesi ile arasındaki ilişkiye karışır. Güçlü betimleme özeliği, okuyucunun kitaptaki olaylarla kendini özdeşleştirmesini kolaylaştırır.
Eser, 1992 yılında filme de alınmış; yurtiçi ve yurtdışındaki film festivallerinde pek çok ödül almıştır."

The "former pupil" mentioned above helped me interpret the Turkish text as follows: "The title of the novel "Zikkimin Koku" is an expression and refers to unpleasant, even poisonous food. The "zikkim" part is also used as an adjective to indicate extreme spicy hot, as in "zikkim gibi aci" or "hot like poison (zikkim)". The second word in the expression means "roots" and when put together it translates as "poison roots". It is an expression often used by mothers, or used to be, to scold their children who complain about their food. "Zikkimin kokunu ye" meaning "if you don't like this food, eat poison roots". That said, I will leave the expression as it is in the translation since there is no single expression I can think of in English that fully covers it.

Zikkimin Koku is a novel by Muzaffer Izgu talking about his childhood in a shanty town in Adana. It is peppered with humor and drama elements. The author narrates his childhood and youth spent in poverty. The reader meets his first love, witnesses separations, feels his sorrow, and his relationship with his family, all in a moving narrative. His strong story telling style makes it easy for the reader to identify with the events in the book. The novel was made into a movie in 1992 and won awards in the film festivals in Turkey and abroad."