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Body of activist shot in West Bank arrives in Turkey

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The body of a US-Turkish activist, shot dead by Israeli forces while protesting against illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, arrived in Turkey on Friday, Agence France-Presse reported.

The killing last week of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, has sparked international condemnation.

The United Nations rights office has accused Israeli forces of shooting Eygi in the head.

The Israeli army has acknowledged opening fire in the area and has said it is looking into the case.

Turkish officials, including İstanbul Governor Davut Gül attended a ceremony at İstanbul’s airport, where they prayed before the coffin wrapped in the Turkish flag, a special protocol applied to martyrs.

The body was later transferred to Turkey’s third-biggest city İzmir, where an autopsy was being carried out.

Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said the findings from the autopsy would be used as evidence for Turkey’s own probe.

“The autopsy procedures will be completed in the evening. We will use the evidence from there,” he told journalists.

Ankara has launched an investigation into Eygi’s death during a protest in the occupied West Bank town of Beita.

It has also petitioned the UN to launch an independent inquiry into the killing.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a vocal opponent of Israel’s war in Gaza, has vowed to ensure “that Ayşenur Ezgi’s death does not go unpunished.”

Her family said she was “shot in the head and killed by a bullet from an Israeli soldier” during a weekly demonstration against Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law.

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on Israel to provide “full accountability” and demanded it “do more” to avoid such killings.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said on Tuesday that increased violence in the occupied West Bank meant it risked becoming “a new Gaza.”

Mourners attend a funeral prayer in absentia in memory of late Turkish-American activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, shot dead by Israeli forces while protesting against illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, at the Fatih mosque in İstanbul on September 13, 2024. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP)

 

Eygi’s family is hoping to hold her funeral on Saturday in the western coastal town of Didim.

“It’s sad but it’s also a source of pride for Didim,” Eygi’s uncle, Ali Tikkim, who lives in the town, said on Wednesday.

Mourners also attended a funeral prayer in absentia on Friday in memory of Eygi at İstanbul’s Fatih mosque, an AFP journalist reported.

 

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