Funeral held for Turkish-American activist killed in West Bank

Hundreds of people waving Turkish and Palestinian flags gathered for the funeral Saturday for Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a Turkish-American activist killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Turkey’s Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus and main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel were among mourners at the ceremony in the Turkish Aegean coastal city of Didim.

A guard of honour carried the 26-year-old’s coffin, which was draped with a Turkish flag.

“The blood of Ayşenur Eygi is as sacred as that of every Palestinian martyred, and we will follow it until the end. As the Turkish nation, we are fully committed. As a state, we are fully committed,” Kurtulmus told reporters.

Eygi was killed on Sept. 6 as she took part in a protest against settlement expansion in the West Bank.

Israel has acknowledged that its troops shot the activist, but says it was an unintentional act during a demonstration that turned violent.

“She was directly targeted and shot behind her left ear. May God have mercy on her, and may her soul rest in paradise,” Kurtulmus said.

Ankara said it will request international arrest warrants for those to blame for what it calls an intentional killing.

US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris said on Wednesday the killing of Eygi was unacceptable and Israel must do more to make sure such an event never happens again.