Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, the young Turkish-American woman killed by an Israeli army bullet during a protest march against Israeli expansion in the West Bank, was buried in her native Turkey on September 14. Her death has caused the fury of the Turkish government, which has assured that it will seek justice through legal means and take action against Israel, in what it has described as an “intentional murder.”
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi becomes a symbol of commitment to the Palestinian cause after being shot in the head during a march near Nablus, in northern West Bank.
On Saturday, September 14, the funeral of the American-Turkish activist murdered on September 6 in the West Bank was held in western Turkey.
Chanting slogans against Israel and the United States, such as “The Palestinian people are not alone,” a large crowd waited at a mosque in the city of Didim for the arrival of the coffin, draped with Turkish flags and protected by a large security presence.
Then, even to the small cemetery of that city on the Aegean coast was the body was escorted by a crowd of several hundred people and riot police, wearing the white helmets reserved for fallen martyrs.
Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Interior Minister Ali Verlikaya and Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, among other political figures from the Eurasian country, were present at the ceremony, in addition to the family and friends of the deceased.
Aysenur lost her life in the West Bank on September 6 while participating in a protest against Israeli expansion in the Palestinian territory.
Read alsoUS and Turkey demand explanations after activist’s death in West Bank
For many in Turkey, including the government, it was a “deliberate murder” by the Israeli army during the demonstration that turned violent.
The body of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi arrived in Turkey from Tel Aviv on Friday and was immediately flown to Izmir, the country’s third largest city on the west coast, where an autopsy confirmed she died from “gunshot wounds,” state television TRT reported.
TRT noted that this conclusion is the same as the one they reached three Palestinian doctors, who ruled out the possibility of indirect fire.
These findings will be included in the report of the investigation opened by the Ankara prosecutor, according to Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunç.
This Saturday, during the funeral, the speaker of the Turkish Parliament said:
The blood of Aysenur Eygi is as sacred as that of all Palestinian martyrs, and we will follow her to the end
The politician said that Turkey will take the case to all international judicial bodies and explained that Eygi’s autopsy was carried out in accordance with international standards.
“We will hold them accountable before all foreign courts,” he said, adding that his country will request international arrest warrants for those responsible.
The Turkish justice minister also asked the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial and arbitrary executions to establish an independent commission of inquiry and to draw up a report on the killing, with the intention of attaching it to the ongoing “genocide” case against Israel before the International Court of Justice and to the ongoing investigation before the International Criminal Court.
Read alsoBody of slain West Bank activist arrives in Türkiye as Israel steps up Gaza attacks
The activist’s mother, Rabia Birden, was quoted by Anadolu Agency as saying:
All I ask of the State is that it demand justice for my daughter. That her blood be avenged. That those responsible be punished, because she was a deliberate target.
Turkey has been a key negotiator in achieving some agreements between Israel and the Palestinian territories, but is also a strong critic of Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions.
Outrage in the United States
US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris issued a statement on Wednesday calling the incident “unacceptable” and demanding that Israel take steps to prevent such tragedies from happening again.
The White House expressed support for Eygi’s family and called for an investigation into the incident.
Israel, for its part, maintains that it was an accident. Israeli army considers it “very likely” that the young woman died “indirectly and unintentionally” by gunfire from their ranks.
Read also‘New evidence against Israeli account of US activist’s murder’: The Washington Post
Eygi, 26, was a member of the International Solidarity Movement, known for its activism in the United States, Turkey and the West Bank, so her murder has resonated with human rights movements.
Other commemorative ceremonies were also held in cities such as Istanbul and Ankara on Saturday.
With Reuters, EFE and local media
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