Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi returned to her ancestral homeland years later, in a flag-draped coffin as part of a legacy of the fight for the rights of Palestinians. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the young Turkish activist's father on Saturday and pledged that they would file a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) on her killing last week by Israel in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Abbas, who a few weeks ago made a historic speech at the Turkish parliament appealing to the world to help Palestinians under the Israeli aggression, extended his condolences to her father, Mehmet Suat Eygi, and the Turkish people. He said Eygi was the "brave daughter of Palestine and Türkiye who was assassinated at the hands of the Israeli occupation” and an "honest symbol of the solidarity between the brotherly Turkish and Palestinian peoples.”
"The Palestinian leadership was engaged with the U.S. and Turkish authorities to ensure conducting a fair investigation into her killing and that work was underway to file a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the crime of her assassination,” he said. Abbas announced his decision "to bestow upon her the Medal of the Star of Jerusalem in recognition of her dearly sacrifice for the Palestinian people’s right to freedom and independence and invited her parents and family to visit Palestine.”
Antalya-born Eygi, 26, had traveled to the region to support Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation, according to reports from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-led group that is helping the Palestinian cause in the conflict with Israel. She arrived in the West Bank last Tuesday to volunteer with ISM as part of an effort to support and safeguard Palestinian farmers before her murder by bullets fired by Israeli soldiers. Türkiye oversaw the transportation of her body from Palestine for burial in Didim, a western town where the young woman's grandparents and most relatives lived.
On Saturday, thousands of people joined the funeral ceremony for Eygi, including politicians from the ruling party and opposition parties in a rare show of solidarity for the Palestinian cause Eygi died for. A portrait of her wearing her graduation gown was propped against the coffin as people paid their respects.
Türkiye condemned the killing and announced it would conduct its own investigation into her death. "We are not going to leave our daughter’s blood on the ground and we demand responsibility and accountability for this murder,” Numan Kurtulmuş, the speaker of the Turkish Parliament told mourners at the funeral.
Apart from Kurtulmuş, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who just returned from Spain where he joined talks for ending the Palestine-Israel conflict, Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Ozdemir Goktas, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunc and Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya attended the funeral. Özgür Özel, head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), and Future Party leader Ahmet Davutoğlu were also present.
"We will work tirelessly to ensure the perpetrators of this inhumane attack are brought to justice,” Fidan said in a post on X. He also criticized the global silence on the violence, describing it as a "dark stain in history."
Communications Director Fahrettin Altun also remembered Eygi, saying: "With a heavy heart, we have sent Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi to her last journey. May God accept her martyrdom. I offer my sincerest condolences to her family and loved ones. As the Turkish government, we will do everything in our power to bring those responsible to justice.”
Mentioning that Ankara has already launched an investigation into Eygi’s murder by Israeli forces, Altun called for an international investigation. He also urged Washington to do the same and put pressure on Israeli authorities "for answers and full accountability” because Eygi held dual Turkish and U.S. citizenship.
"The international community must end its habit of looking the other way when Israel has been committing countless crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide. Aysenur’s martyrdom is the latest example where Israel tries to get away with impunity. It is way past time for Israeli accountability,” he added.
On Friday, an autopsy was carried out at the Izmir Forensic Medicine Institute in western Türkiye. Kurtulmuş said the examination showed Eygi was hit by a round that struck her in the back of the head below her left ear.
The Israeli military said Tuesday that Eygi was likely shot "indirectly and unintentionally” by Israeli forces.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Saturday pledged to seek justice for Eygi and over 41,000 Gazan civilians, comparing the situation in Gaza to the notorious 1995 Srebrenica genocide.
At a joint press conference with Denis Becirovic, chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, held on the day Eygi was laid to rest, Erdoğan said: "In courts of law, we will hold Israel accountable for the killing of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, along with over 41,000 of our Gazan brothers and sisters." Stressing the severity of the situation, he said: "Today we are witnessing in Gaza and (other) occupied Palestinian territories a massacre similar to the one carried out in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s." Erdoğan also added that the "perpetrators of Gaza," like the people behind the Srebrenica genocide, will be held accountable in international courts.
"Just as the perpetrators of the Srebrenica genocide were convicted in international courts, those responsible for what is happening in Gaza will also be held accountable under international law," he said.
