Wagon-Li Incident That Started with the French Company’s Ban on Turkish Language

In Beyoğlu at that time non-Muslims and minorities It was quite a lot. There were also many foreign companies where Turks worked. Wagon-Li was one of them. When they heard about what happened to Naci Bey, who worked there, the young people could not stand still.

To look at how this event, which is the subject of some history books, happened and what happened next To the streets of Taksim in the 1990s Let’s take a journey in the right direction.

Naci Bey’s speaking Turkish to a merchant caused him to be punished.

International Sleeping Wagons Company Wagons-Lits (Vagon-Li) was located in Beyoğlu. When the calendar showed February 22, 1933, Naci Bey, a Turk working in the company; with a customer who came to the company, a little angry and He was speaking Turkish in a loud voice.

When Belgian manager Jannoni, who heard these conversations, told Naci Bey that the official language of the company was French, Naci Bey said, “I am Turkish! The official language in my hometown is Turkish! I think you should learn Turkish!” said. Thereupon, the manager fined Naci Bey 25 kuruş. When Naci Bey again objected in a harsh manner, he was suspended from work for 15 days.

When the incident was reported in the press, angry young people decided to raid the company.

Naci Bey

This incident took place in the newspapers. In Cumhuriyet newspaper “Those who do not want Turkish have no place in Turkey!” headlines were made and 3 days after the incident, on February 25, Darülfünun and National Turkish Student Union students gathered. Between them, Well-known names of the period such as Cahit Arf and Peyami Safa There was also.

The gathered students headed towards the company’s office and began protesting. But this was not a small-scale protest. After a while, events escalated and The windows started to come down. Police officers, “Children, tell us your problem. We promise, we will listen to you all.” he said, but it was in vain.

The first thing the students did when they entered the office with Turkish flags in their hands was to take the picture of Ataturk on the wall.

Students entered the branch amidst the applause of other citizens and saw the sign on the wall. After receiving the portrait of Mustafa Kemal “This is not where this picture belongs!” They started breaking things and smashing them. They never touched the tickets.

On the other hand “Those who insult Turkishness and those who do not speak Turkish will be expelled from this country.”, “Long live youth, long live Gazi!”, “We cannot tolerate the existence of those who refuse to speak Turkish on Turkish soil!” They were shouting slogans.

Even though they created havoc in the office, it wasn’t enough.

This was not the company’s only office, and the young people did not feel revenged enough. They entered the office in Karaköy and the first thing they did was, was to remove the Ataturk picture on the wall. What happened next continued in the same way, all hell broke loose.

The students’ protest continued at the Istanbul Governorship and they left the Ataturk pictures they had taken under protection at the community center and dispersed. This angry protest It was obviously effective so that Naci Bey returned to work.

Naci Bey’s return to work was not the only development.

There were many non-Muslims and minorities living around Pera. Many foreign companies here also left their homes after the incident. He started using Turkish names.

Emerging in the late 1928 and early 1930s; aiming to prevent minorities from speaking their own language “Citizen, speak Turkish!” campaign was also launched again.

Wagons-Lits company It was nationalized, sharing the same fate as many other foreign companies from the Ottoman Empire period. Today, the company continues to operate in Turkey with large investments.

Our other content that may interest you: