Funeral held in Turkey for Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi

Palestinian President awards Eygi the Star of Jerusalem medal posthumously

September 14 () –

The funeral of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot dead by Israeli soldiers during a demonstration in the West Bank, was held on Saturday.

The body was taken from Didim Hospital in Aydin province in western Turkey to the home of his father, Mehmet Suat Eygi, in the Altinkum district, where his father was also attended by other relatives and the Minister of Family and Social Services of the Turkish Government, Mahinur Özdemir Göktas, according to the official Turkish news agency, Anatolia.

A crowd gathered at the house chanting slogans such as “Down with Israel!” After the prayers, the body was taken to the Central Mosque in Didim, although the ceremony itself took place in front of the temple on Cumhurriyet Avenue due to the high attendance.

The area was decorated with large Turkish flags unfurled over the crowd, which again chanted anti-Israeli slogans. Several Palestinian flags were also seen.

The final transfer to the Asri cemetery was carried out by a police honour guard. There, the Vice President for Religious Affairs, Kadir Dinç, offered a few words of condolence “to all humanity that has not lost its conscience, that has not lost compassion, that has not lost its humanity.” “May Allah curse the cruel State of Israel and all those who support it, whether covert or open (…). Their blood will not go unavenged,” he said.

The President of the National Assembly, Numan Kurtulmus, then stressed that “the national martyr Aysenur is the conscience of the whole world.” “The murderers of our daughter will be held accountable in all international courts,” he added.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has denounced Eygi’s death as a “deliberate attack” by Israeli soldiers and has criticized the “hypocritical silence” of those who will be marked with a “black stain” in history.

The Israeli military said Tuesday after an investigation that the activist died on September 6 “most likely as a result of an indirect and unintentional shot that was intended for an instigator,” prompting US President Joe Biden to demand “full accountability” for Eygi’s death, although he said it had been “a tragic mistake.”

The activist’s family has asked the United States for an “independent investigation” arguing that “given the circumstances of Aysenur’s murder, an Israeli investigation is not appropriate,” while the Palestinian government has “firmly” condemned the “brutal execution” of the young woman.

PALESTINE MEDAL

Earlier on Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that he had posthumously awarded Eygi the Star of Jerusalem medal for his “sacrifice in support of the Palestinian people and their right to freedom and independence.”

Abbas called the woman’s father to offer his condolences, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. “She is a symbol of solidarity between the Turkish and Palestinian peoples and all free peoples of the world,” he said.

Abbas said steps were already underway to file a complaint about Aygi’s death with the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Eygi was a volunteer activist for the NGO Solidarity Movement, which supports the Palestinian population through peaceful means in the face of the Israeli occupation. The same organisation has already lost another American, Rachel Corrie, crushed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003.