STANBUL—A Turkish newspaper’s front-page photograph of a woman with a knife sticking out of her naked back after her husband allegedly stabbed her has triggered controversy, in a nation dogged by high levels of domestic violence and so-called honor killings.

The photograph showed the victim, Sefika Etik, lying on a gurney as she was taken to an ambulance on Thursday. She was alive when the picture was taken, but died on the way to the hospital.