Body of US-Turkish activist shot in head by Israel arrives in Istanbul

The body of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Eygi has arrived for poignant burial in western Turkey, with her family both mourning her killing and demanding accountability for her "arbitrary murder" by Israel.

Turkey said they are seeking international arrest warrants against those responsible, while the family has demanded the US do the same and show sensitivity.

Eygi was shot by Israeli forces while near a protest in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus last week.

Her body was flown from Tel Aviv to Baku, Azerbaijan and arrived in Istanbul early on Friday, where a small ceremony was held at the airport.

Turkey's justice minister announced that Turkey had launched its own investigation into her death after the Israeli military said in a preliminary report that she was likely shot "indirectly and unintentionally" by its soldiers.

Eygi’s father, Mehmet Suat Eygi, who lives in Seattle but spoke at a ceremony for his daughter in Turkey, praised the country’s decision to open an investigation.

"I hope that the American government does the same," he said.

He explained that his daughter was 10 months old when the family decided to move to the US.

"She studied in the schools there, she grew up with freedoms there. She is a citizen of that country," he said.

"I hope the American government will show the same sensitivity," he added.

He described his daughter as a "special person" who cared deeply about human rights and nature, and who often travelled around the world, including Brazil and Mexico, to campaign for environmental and human rights.

"She could have enjoyed a comfortable life, but she pursued her ideals. She left everything and went to the Middle East. She was that idealistic," her father said, noting that she had just graduated this year and was married.

In Aydin town where Eygi would visit for family holidays, streets were lined with Turkish flags, a tradition usually reserved for Turkish soldiers killed in conflict.

Turkey also announced they would present findings from their investigations to a UN court overseeing a genocide case against Israel, filed by South Africa over Israel’s ongoing war on the enclave.

"We will take every judicial step for our martyred daughter, Aysenur," Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said.

Eygi’s family believe she was deliberately targeted, with one relative telling the Associated Press that "there was no error or accident" and that her killing was a "message to the world".

Forensic report 

The Palestinian Ministry of Justice released a statement which confirmed that Eygi was brought to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus after she was shot with a bullet in the head.

The statement, signed by two forensic doctors, said that the bullet had entered from behind her left ear, causing damage to the brain.

The report further states that medical staff tried six times to reactivate her heart with no luck and that the bullet had damaged the brain and skull, with the shrapnel causing tears and bruises.

The White House has also raised concerns about the Israeli military’s role in her killing, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying on Thursday that the Biden administration was aware of outside analyses which concluded she was shot 20 minutes after clashes had ended.

She said the killing was “awful” and “never should have happened”, but did not add if the administration was satisfied with the initial investigation by the Israeli army.

The New Arab reached out to the International Solidarity Movement, the organisation for which Eygi was volunteering in the West Bank, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.