(Didim) The body of Turkish-American activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, killed during a demonstration in the occupied West Bank, is expected in Turkey on Friday, where a funeral will be held on Saturday in the family home of Didim (southwest).
His father, Mehmet Suat Eygi, 60, who came from the United States where he lives, spoke to the press on Thursday evening in this small seaside resort on the Aegean coast.
“Ayşenur was a very special person. She was sensitive to human rights, to nature, to everything,” he stressed.
The body, he said, is due to arrive in Istanbul on Friday morning and then be transferred to Izmir (west), the country’s third largest city, from where it will be taken to Didim.
Mr. Eygi welcomed the decision of the Turkish authorities to open an investigation into “this arbitrary assassination” as announced by the Minister of Justice, Yilmaz Tunç.
“I learned that our state is pursuing this arbitrary killing by opening an investigation. I am happy about it. I expect the same from the US government, because Ayşenur was only 10 months old when she arrived in the United States,” he said.
In addition to the 26-year-old’s parents, her partner is also present in Didim, where his grandfather and at least one uncle still live.
The latter, Ali Tikkim, 67, suggested that the family had wanted a funeral on Saturday rather than Friday, because many people were expected to attend.
The street where his house is located was blocked off by police on Thursday and a tent was set up to receive condolences, AFP reported. At the cemetery, the grave has already been dug.
Among the expected crowd, Tikkim said, were religious representatives as well as regional branches of the large Turkish Islamic NGO IHH, which is also calling for a rally on Friday in the conservative Fatih district of Istanbul after the main prayer.
“Funeral prayer”
A student association in Aydin province, where Didim is located, is also calling for a “funeral prayer” early Saturday afternoon.
Turkey has strongly condemned the death of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, who was killed on September 6 by Israeli gunfire during a demonstration in Beita, near Nablus.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country will do everything “so that the death of Ayşenur Ezgi does not go unpunished.”
The Ankara Prosecutor General’s Office has opened an investigation into her death. “We will continue to defend Ayşenur’s rights. We could not remain silent while our fellow citizen was unlawfully martyred by Israeli attackers,” the Justice Minister said.
Turkey is considering issuing international arrest warrants based on the results of the investigation, he said. He also called on the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial and arbitrary executions to establish an independent commission of inquiry and write a report on the matter.
“We will then continue our work to transmit this report [du procureur d’Ankara] to the UN Human Rights Council, in order to include it in the ongoing genocide proceedings against Israel before the International Court of Justice and in the ongoing investigation before the International Criminal Court,” he added.
The Israeli army said on Tuesday that it was “very likely” that shots fired by its men had killed the young woman “indirectly and unintentionally”.
US President Joe Biden, who had spoken the day before of an “accident”, said on Wednesday that he was “outraged and deeply saddened” by this death and called on Israel to “do more” to ensure that such a tragedy is not repeated.