Israeli killing of Turkish-American activist ‘deliberate’: Turkey’s foreign minister
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has bidden farewell to Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, saying the American-Turkish activist was “deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli soldiers” in the occupied West Bank.
“We will work with all our might to ensure that the perpetrators of this inhumane attack are brought to justice,” he wrote on X.
He also slammed the “hypocritical silence of those who act as human rights advocates” in what appeared to be a remark directed at the US, which unlike Turkey refused to open its own investigation into the killing of Eygi, who was a citizen of both countries.
Turkey conducted an autopsy on the body before its burial today, and officials said the results would be brought before international courts to pursue accountability.
Activist’s killing likely to complicate ties between Turkey and Israel
Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi’s killing in the occupied West Bank has been met with national mourning in Turkey and is likely to prompt legal action by Ankara, further complicating its diplomatic relations with Israel, an analyst says.
“Turkey will be following up on this issue legally,” Vehbi Baysan, a lecturer at the Ibn Haldun University, told Al Jazeera from Istanbul.
While Ankara tried at the beginning of the war in Gaza to position itself as a mediator, it abandoned the task after Israel’s rejection. The relationship between the two countries has progressively deteriorated, and the killing of one of Turkey’s citizens is bound to aggravate that, Baysan said.
While Ankara does not want to “put the last nail in the coffin” when it comes to diplomatic ties, it also wants to see Israel held accountable for the crimes it is committing against Palestinians, he added.
‘The Israeli soldiers were so happy after the sniper hit Aysenur’
Muneer Khdeer, a resident of Beita village in the occupied West Bank, witnessed the killing of activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi. He described what he saw:
“Every Friday for three years, we have been praying at a mosque in al-Masbah, opposite of Mount Sabih. After prayers, Israeli soldiers follow the young men who are heading home, which leads to scuffles. They fire tear gas and live rounds, and the young men throw stones at them,” Khdeer said.
“That day, the Israelis were firing live rounds towards the Palestinians and foreign volunteers. The two groups were about 300 metres [330 yards] apart, so the stones didn’t hit the soldiers. A sniper was among the soldiers because he placed a weapon on top of the wall. He fired two rounds, and one hit the Turkish woman, Aysenur. An ambulance took her away.
“The Israeli soldiers were so happy after the sniper hit Aysenur because they thought they had hit a Palestinian.”
PA president calls slain activist ‘brave daughter of Palestine and Turkey’
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has offered condolences to the family of the US-Turkish activist killed by Israeli forces during a protest in the occupied West Bank.
Abbas spoke to the father of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, Mehmet Suat Eygi, over the phone, Wafa news agency reported.
The president called Eygi a “brave daughter of Palestine and Turkey who was assassinated at the hands of the Israeli occupation” as well as an “honest symbol of the solidarity between the brotherly Turkish and Palestinian peoples”.
Palestinian leaders are working with US and Turkish authorities to ensure a fair investigation is conducted into the activist’s killing and efforts are under way to file a case with the International Criminal Court, he added.
Abbas said he would posthumously award Eygi with the Medal of the Star of Jerusalem.
Israel’s war on Palestine: ‘A disgusting affront to all of humanity’
Rob Sadler of the International Solidarity Movement says despite the killing of its volunteer Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, he and other foreign activists will continue to highlight Israel’s deadly violence and land theft in the occupied West Bank.
“Clearly Israel is gearing up to subjugate the West Bank and the Palestinian people even further with the view of increasing their military control over the territory,” Sadler told Al Jazeera.
“We’re here because we’ve been invited to expose this programme of destruction against the Palestinian people and support them in practical and nonviolent ways. Clearly the international community cannot be trusted to do this as we’ve seen by the Americans’ complicity in the genocide in Gaza.
“So it’s more important than ever for us to show the world that Palestine does not stand alone. The existence of this terrorist state and their genocidal campaign should be a disgusting affront to all of humanity. And if our governments won’t stand against it, we will.”
