Salonika Incident

After a young Orthodox Christian woman of Bulgarian origin[1] attempted to convert to Islam to marry a Turk against the will of her family, she was detained by the US Consul at Thessaloniki.

In the 1820s, a number of incidents leading to the death of Christians occurred in the Ottoman Empire, notably the Constantinople massacre of 1821, marking the European opinion.

Stephana associated with a neighbouring Turkish and Muslim family, which took her in their home[12] and proposed to bring her to Thessaloniki in order to complete administrative paperwork that would officially enact her conversion to Islam.

[2] To do so, Ottoman law required the convert to appear before a local council and testify that they were embracing Islam freely, as a sane adult and without coercion.

As rumours ran wild, people grew restless, prompting the Chief of Police, Colonel Salim Bey, to call for the crowd to calm down and disperse.

[24] Seeing that the letter was ineffectual and that the authorities had no assistance forthcoming either from the artillerymen of the citadel or from the marines of the ironclad Iclaliye at anchor in the harbour,[21] Abbott wrote a second message to his brother.

[26] After three quarters on an hour, the mob started breaking into the room where the consuls where surrounded, by dislodging the iron bars that protected the windows.

[27] The crowd invaded the building, broke into the room and lynched Abbott and Moulin with these very iron bars, in front of Mehmed Refet Pasha, Salim Bey and a few policemen, who were helpless in protecting the consuls.

[9] Blunt telegraphed the news of the incident and of the murders to the British embassy in Constantinople and, warning that the local authorities did not have the necessary forces to maintain order, requested the protection of the Royal Navy.

[29] The governments of Europe instrumentalised the incident to embarrass the Ottoman Empire,[2] issuing an ultimatum demanding improvements in the security of foreigners,[9] as well as harsh and swift punishment for those responsible.