Body of activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi killed by Israeli fire arrives in Turkish town

US-Turkish national shot in West Bank will be buried on Saturday in Didim, on the Aegean coast

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The body of US-Turkish activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot dead by Israeli troops at a protest in the occupied West Bank, has arrived in Didim on Turkey’s Aegean coast, where she will be buried on Saturday.

The coffin was covered in a Turkish flag when it was brought to the state hospital in the Turkish town in an official ceremony on Friday evening. Her parents, dressed in black, as well as other relatives and mourners, looked on as the coffin was carried by Turkish security forces into the morgue.

Her mother, Rabia Birden Eygi, was visibly distressed and required medical attention upon the arrival of her daughter’s body. A Turkish medical professional told The National that an autopsy had been carried out on Ms Eygi's body in the city of Izmir before the remains were brought to Didim.

A previous autopsy carried out in the West Bank found that severe bleeding and swelling to the brain from an Israeli bullet wound had caused her death. Ms Eygi, 26, was shot last week while attending a protest against the Israeli army in the village of Beita, near Nablus, in the occupied Palestinian territory. The Israeli army said it was “highly likely” she was hit by gunfire from its forces.

Her grandfather lives in the coastal town, which is a resort popular with British tourists known for its golden sand beach. Earlier on Friday, The National witnessed preparations for her interment in Didim Modern Cemetery, where guards were placing barriers around a grave prepared for burial. Local police shut roads around the central mosque, where a funeral ceremony will be held.

Aysenur Eygi was shot dead while attending a protest against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. Reuters

Ms Eygi’s father, Mehmet Suat Eygi, who lives in the US and arrived in Didim on Thursday, said he expected the US government to open an investigation into his daughter’s killing. "America is a slightly different country; if there is an injustice in any country in the world, if there is a killing of its citizens, America will land [on that country] like the eagle on its emblem,” he said in remarks carried by Turkish state media.

“But when it comes to Israel, there may be a little more of an effort to gloss over the issue. But I want to believe that people will listen to their conscience," he said.

His daughter was 10 months old when her family moved to the US, Mr Eygi said, adding that the US government was responsible for investigating her killing. The US State Department, however, has repeatedly said it is not carrying out an investigation.

"We have been briefed on the results of the preliminary investigation by the government of Israel, and they have told us they are conducting a full criminal investigation. We are going to wait to pass any judgments about what steps ought to occur next," the US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

"That investigation needs to be thorough, it needs to be prompt and needs to be transparent, and then we'll make any determinations at the conclusion of that investigation."

On Wednesday night, Ms Eygi’s parents said US President Joe Biden held “complicity in the Israeli military's agenda”. Mr Biden called for accountability from Israel and requested assurances that similar incidents would not happen again.

The activist lived in the US city of Seattle and recently graduated from the University of Washington, but her relatives live in Turkey. Before Didim, the body of Ms Eygi arrived at Istanbul airport after being flown from Tel Aviv to Azerbaijan's capital Baku. Direct flights between Israel and Turkey were halted as diplomatic relations deteriorated after the October 7 attacks by Hamas and the start of the war in Gaza.

Pro-Palestine campaigners published invitations for the public to attend the funeral on Saturday.

Aysenur Eygi's father calls on US to 'listen to its conscience'

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