The 1927 murder in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

of a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

woman named Elza Niego by a Turkish official sparked an anti-government demonstration at her funeral that authorities regarded as criminal. The Turkish government alleged that the slogans used in the manifestations were against Turkishness. Following the demonstration, ten Jewish protestors were detained, who were released after thirty days.

Murder

Elza Niego (22) was a typist of the National Insurance Company of Turkey. During a holiday at Heybeli island, a Muslim Turkish official Osman Bey fell in love with her. Osman Bey, who was 30 years older than Elza, would follow Elza around the island. In despair, Elza Niego cut short her vacation and went home. Elza Niego eventually became engaged to a Jewish co-worker. Osman Bey, who was enraged by the engagement, pursued Elza Niego and stabbed her to death with a knife.

Aftermath

During the funeral, a demonstration was held in opposition to the Turkish government. This created an

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

reaction in the Turkish press. Nine protestors were immediately arrested under the charge of offending "

Turkishness Kemalism ( tr, Kemalizm, also archaically ''Kamâlizm''), also known as Atatürkism ( tr, Atatürkçülük, Atatürkçü düşünce), or The Six Arrows ( tr, Altı Ok), is the founding official ideology of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey.Eric J. ...

", but acquitted from the charges in a first trial. Later, in second trial against nine Jews and also a Russian individual witness to murder was initiated. The defendants were arrested. Four of them were sentenced for the specific offense of "

insulting Turkishness An insult is an expression or statement (or sometimes behavior) which is disrespectful or scornful. Insults may be intentional or accidental. An insult may be factual, but at the same time pejorative, such as the word "inbred". Jocular ex ...

".Münferit(!) antisemitizm vak’aları
, Ayşe Hür,

Taraf ''Taraf'' ("Side" in Turkish) was a liberal newspaper in Turkey. It had distinguished itself by opposing interference by the Turkish military in the country's social and political affairs. It was distributed nationwide, and had been in circulati ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niego, Elza Turkish Jews Jewish Turkish history Antisemitism in Turkey 1927 in Turkey Islam and antisemitism 1927 riots 1927 murders in Turkey Violence against women in Turkey Female murder victims Murdered Jews