US activist killed by Israeli forces laid to rest in family hometown in Turkey

Hundreds of mourners have gathered in Turkey for the funeral of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, an American-Turkish activist who was killed last week by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.

Eygi, a dual citizen of Turkey and the United States was "shot in the head" while participating in a weekly protest against Israel's illegal settlement in the West Bank on September 6.

Her family and friends gathered Saturday in her family’s hometown, Didim, in western Turkey, for her funeral ceremony.

Eygi’s coffin was taken to her family’s home and then to a mosque where a large crowd of mourners gathered, chanting slogans against the Israeli regime.

Israeli killing of Turkish-American activist ‘deliberate’: Turkey’s foreign minister

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan bid farewell to Eygi, saying she 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.

Fidan also condemned the “hypocritical silence of those who act as human rights advocates,” in what appeared to be directed at the US.

On Friday, the victim’s mother Rabia Birden urged Turkish officials to “seek justice for my daughter.”

Turkey, which has performed its own autopsy on Eygi’s body, said it was investigating her death and pressed the United Nations for an independent inquiry.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said Monday that Ankara would pursue her killing at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

During the funeral, Egy’s father said that he felt that the US, where he lived for 25 years and obtained citizenship, had not done enough to respond to his daughter’s killing.

“I have been living in the U.S. for 25 years, and I know how seriously the US looks out for the safety of its citizens abroad,” said Mehmet Suat Eygi.

“I know that when something happens, the US will attack like the eagle on its seal. But when Israel is in question, it transforms into a dove.”

Family of US woman killed by Israel in West Bank demands independent probe

The family of US activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi says that an Israel-led investigation into her killing would be inadequate.

A US National Security Council spokesperson said earlier that Washington had contacted Israeli officials to “request an investigation into the incident.”

Egy’s family, however, demanded an independent investigation into her killing, saying that an Israel-led probe would be inadequate.

Israel’s military said it is “highly likely” that Eygi was hit “indirectly and unintentionally” and that the matter was still being investigated.

Other activists who were with her at the time said that Eygi had been standing several meters away and downhill from the regime’s forces.

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