Zehra Topel (born April 13, 1987) is a Turkish chess player. Since 2007, she holds the FIDE title of Woman International Master (WIM). Topel was born on April 13, 1987 in Shumen, Bulgaria to Turkish parents. Her father Cengiz Topel is a chess trainer and her mother Vildan is a nurse. She began with chess playing at the age eight when her mother presented Zehra's cousin a chess board, and her father instructed her. She moved with her father in 1997 to Istanbul, Turkey while the mother stayed in the time being in Bulgaria with Zehra's older sister Hatice. Zehra applied for Turkish citizenship, but had to wait for four years to get naturalized. In 2000, Zehra Topel was granted Turkish citizenship.