ANKARA: Turkiye is investigating the killing of a US-Turkish activist during a protest in West Bank, the justice minister said Thursday, adding that Ankara would press the UN to take immediate action.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was shot dead last week while demonstrating against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank town of Beita.
The settlements are illegal under international law but supported by right-wing members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
The United Nations rights office has accused Israeli forces of shooting Eygi in the head. The Israeli army has acknowledged opening fire in the area and said it was looking into the case.
“Turkiye has opened an investigation,” Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said.
He also said Turkiye would take the case to the United Nations and push for an independent inquiry into her death.
“We will work to ensure that the (UN) Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial and Arbitrary Executions takes immediate action, and that an independent commission of inquiry is established and prepare a report,” he said.
Tunc said Turkiye would forward that report to the UN Human Rights Council and to the ongoing case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
“We will continue to defend the right of our sister Aysenur and our Palestinian brothers,” he added.
Turkiye’s foreign ministry said the formal procedures for the transfer of the body had been concluded through its embassy in Tel Aviv and consulate in Jerusalem.
“The body of the deceased will arrive in Turkiye tomorrow,” it said, adding: “We once again condemn this murder committed by the genocidal Netanyahu government.”
Eygi’s family is still waiting for her body to arrive and is hoping to bury her in the southwestern town of Didim on Friday.
“It’s sad but it’s also a source of pride for Didim,” Eygi’s uncle Ali Tikkim, 67, said on Wednesday.
“It’s important that a young girl, martyred and sensitive to the world is buried here.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to ensure “that Aysenur Ezgi’s death does not go unpunished.”
Turkiye probing killing of activist in occupied West Bank
https://arab.news/z34db
Turkiye probing killing of activist in occupied West Bank
- Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was shot dead last week while demonstrating against Israeli settlements in the West Bank
- The United Nations rights office has accused Israeli forces of shooting the US-Turkish activist in the head
Israeli settlers spray ‘revenge’ messages outside Church of the Visitation in Jerusalem
- Extremists vandalized church walls and parked vehicles in Ein Karem, a Palestinian village before 1948
- Israeli police announced probe into the ‘nationalist graffiti’
LONDON: Israeli settlers on Thursday vandalized the Church of the Visitation in Ein Karem, a neighborhood in the western part of Jerusalem, according to Wafa news agency.
The Jerusalem Governorate of the Palestinian Authority reported that extremists vandalized church walls and parked vehicles in Ein Karem, which was a Palestinian village before 1948.
Photos show graffiti in red spray paint in Hebrew that says: “Revenge,” “David, king of Israel lives and endures,” and “The (Jewish) messiah is here!” near the outer wall of the Catholic church.
Israeli police announced they are investigating the “nationalist graffiti” and have begun collecting evidence to track down the vandals, according to The Times of Israel.
The governorate said that the vandalism is part of mounting violations by Israeli settlers against religious sites in Jerusalem, including incursions into churches and mosques, and desecration of historical and religious sites.
Settlers commonly spray graffiti during attacks on Palestinian properties in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, where, since October 2023, there has been a sharp increase in such attacks.
