Family of Turkish American killed by Israeli forces in West Bank meet Blinken

Aysenur Eygi's relatives frustrated by lack of US investigation

Aysenur Eygi. Photo: X

The family of Aysenur Eygi, a US-Turkish citizen who was killed by the Israeli military at a protest in the West Bank in September, said on Monday after meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that they are frustrated by Washington’s response.

“It's frustrating to hear the same things,” said Hamid Ali, Ms Eygi’s husband. “We hope that things will be different this time around.”

Ms Eygi, who lived in Seattle in the western US and recently graduated from the University of Washington, had been in the West Bank volunteering with a Palestinian solidarity group in the village of Beita, near Nablus. She was shot dead during a protest in the village.

Palestinian and Turkish postmortem examinations s attributed her death to a skull fracture and brain haemorrhage caused by a gunshot wound. Israel has said it was “highly likely” she was killed by gunfire from Israeli troops.

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  Mourners attend the funeral prayers for Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, the 26-year-old US-Turkish activist shot dead by Israeli troops at a protest in the occupied West Bank, outside the central mosque in Didim, Turkey. AP Photo

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  Turkey's Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus, centre right, with relatives of Ms Eygi during her funeral ceremony in Didim, on Turkey’s Aegean coast. Reuters

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  People gather outside the mosque in Didim for the funeral ceremony. Reuters

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  Ms Eygi's father, Mehmet Suat Eygi, at her grandfather's house in Didim before the funeral. AFP

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  Ms Eygi's coffin, draped with the Turkish flag, is carried by security officers into a morgue in Didim. AFP

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  Ms Eygi's mother Rabia Birden Eygi, centre, awaiting the arrival of her daughter's coffin at the morgue in Didim. AFP

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  A relative of Ms Eygi weeps at the morgue in Didim. AFP

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  Mourners gather outside the morgue in Didim. AFP

The family is calling on the State Department to perform an independent investigation but Washington has so far refused to do so, choosing instead to rely on Israel’s investigation, which is still continuing.

Mr Ali said Mr Blinken had repeated old talking points when speaking with the family and while polite, refused to acquiesce to their request for a US-led investigation.

“They gave deference to the Israeli investigation, which is still ongoing,” Mr Ali said. “There doesn't seem to be a deadline given to Israel to complete their investigation, but we were told the same thing that's been said publicly: that the United States will wait for the Israeli investigation to complete before doing anything.”