Esra Koca
Age 407 Jan 2026
Ankara (Turkey)
Possible suicide
Esra's body was found in her home. She was a quiet person who loved cooking and although she was estranged from her parents other members of her family were affirming.
In Ankara in Turkey, Esra Koca, a 40 yo trans woman, was found dead in her house on January 7, 2026. She had been dead for at least 15 days when she was found. She loved cooking.
She was estranged from her parents who abandoned her at a young age, but her brother is now trying to get her justice. The police couldn't tell if it was suicide or a murder disguised in suicide.
The local queer activists and a few family members organised her funerals and her identity as a woman was respected.
Although Esra's parents didn't show much interest in the funeral, her brother and cousin were quite welcoming. Her brother stated that he had searched for her for years, trying to find her, and that if he had found her, he would have accepted her in every way. According to her brother's account, Esra was left at a Children's Protection Institution in Samsun because of her feminine nature, and because of the fear of gossip from relatives and neighbors, who were ashamed of her. Her brother was also left there. A painting she made while at the institution was submitted to a competition and won first prize. A newspaper of the time featured an interview with her about her experiences at the institution, along with news of her artistic achievements. Her brother stated that he kept the painting and the newspaper article. This was her first and only media coverage, apart from LGBT+ press coverage of her suspicious death and funeral.
Her brother agrees with activists and lawyers that her death was suspicious. He has testified that the death was suspicious and is cooperating with Pembe Hayat [Pink Life] and Kaos GL lawyers to ensure an investigation is conducted. Furthermore, a very welcome development for all of us is the decision, reached through a consensus among activists and family members, that Esra will be laid to rest in Ankara alongside her comrades. Moreover, her tombstone will bear her own name, Esra Koca.
If we hadn't met her there that day, we might not even have known she was transgender. The fact that, at the request of the families, her coffin was moved from the men's section to the women's section, and that she was referred to as Esra Koca, the deceased, during the funeral prayer, were extraordinary achievements. As a result of this encounter and the subsequent mobilization, we sent her off at the young age of 40, surrounded by a crowd of comrades, fellow activists, LGBT+ families, her brother, and her niece, embracing her existence and using her own name. Throughout the entire process, activists from Pembe Hayat, Lambdaistanbul, Kaos GL, and Galader demonstrated incredible organization and solidarity, honoring her struggle.
According to her friends, Esra was a wonderful cook. She was a very skilled cook, kind-hearted, well-intentioned, resilient, and compassionate.
Let's hope that if this is a murder, it will be solved and the culprit(s) punished. If she left us by suicide, let's hope the reasons that drove her to suicide are thoroughly investigated. We will be following the case and will never leave her alone again.
https://kaosgl1.org/gokkusagi-forumu-kose-yazisi/esra-nin-ardindan
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1570448163283501/posts/4427104190951203
