The Turkish Foreign Ministry has announced that efforts are ongoing to repatriate for burial in Turkey the body of a Turkish-American woman shot dead last week while demonstrating against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was shot in the head while participating in a demonstration in Beita in the West Bank on Friday.
She was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian organization, and was in Beita on Friday for a weekly demonstration against Israeli settlements, according to ISM.
During Friday’s protest, Eygi was shot in the head, according to the UN rights office and Rafidia Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
“We continue the necessary work for the return of the body of our citizen Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, who was killed by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, to her family for burial,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Öncü Keçeli said on X.
Keçeli said the ministry was in contact with Eygi’s family members living in the United States and relatives in Turkey, adding that the autopsy report is expected to be forwarded to Turkey’s Consulate General In Jerusalem by the Palestinian authorities.
“The plan is for her body to first be taken to Israel and then transferred to our country via Jordan,” the spokesperson said.
İsrail askerleri tarafından Batı Şeria’da öldürülen vatandaşımız Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi’nin naaşının ailesine teslim edilmesi ve defni için gerekli çalışmaları sürdürüyoruz.
Merhumenin ABD’de yaşayan aile fertleriyle ve Türkiye’deki akrabalarıyla temas halindeyiz.
Bu aşamada, otopsi…
— Öncü Keçeli | Dışişleri Bakanlığı Sözcüsü (@SpoxTR_MFA) September 8, 2024
Eygi’s body is expected to be buried in the Didim district of western Aydın province.
Her uncle in Didim, Yılmaz Eygi, told the Demirören News Agency (DHA) on Sunday that the activist’s body is expected to arrive in Turkey in about two weeks, with her parents, who live in the US, scheduled to come to Turkey for the funeral within a week.
“The application for the funeral arrangements was made by the family to the consulate in the US. … However, nothing has been finalized yet. The Foreign Affairs Ministry has also gotten involved [in the process],” he said.
Turkey said Eygi was killed by “Israeli occupation soldiers,” with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan condemning the Israeli action as “barbaric.”
Washington called it a “tragic” event and has pressed its close ally Israel to investigate.
But her family demanded an independent probe.
“Given the circumstances of Ayşenur’s killing, an Israeli investigation is not adequate,” her family said.
Israeli forces have faced growing criticism for their actions in the West Bank, particularly since the outbreak of war in Gaza following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7. According to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 662 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the conflict. Israel has also reported 23 Israeli fatalities in Palestinian attacks during the same period.
