Turkey is investigating the killing of a US-Turkish activist during a protest in the West Bank, the justice minister said Thursday, adding that Ankara would press the UN to take immediate action, Agence France-Presse reported.
Ayşenur 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.
“Turkey has opened an investigation,” Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said.
He also said Turkey 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 prepares a report,” he said.
Tunç said Turkey 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 Ayşenur and our Palestinian brothers,” he added.
Turkey’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 Turkey 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 Erdoğan has vowed to ensure “that Ayşenur Ezgi’s death does not go unpunished.”