UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS BY KURTULMUS & FURTHER DETAILS OF FAMILY VISIT & FUNERAL CEREMONY. ETC.
By Gizem Nisa Cebi
ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus on Saturday visited the family of slain Turkish American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi to offer his condolences on their loss.
"Just as the blood of every martyred Palestinian is sacred, Aysenur Eygi's blood is equally sacred. We will follow her case until the end," Kurtulmus told her mourning family, relatives and friends.
Eygi’s family, who live in in the Aegean coastal city of Didim, Aydin, are mourning their daughter, who was shot and killed by Israeli forces on Sept. 6 while protesting illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Kurtulmus extended his condolences to Eygi's father Mehmet Suat Eygi, her husband Hamid Mazhar Ali, and other family members.
Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc and Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Ozdemir Goktas also offered their condolences.
Kurtulmus added that every day many Palestinians are killed, and that a large swathe of humanity, listening to its conscience, opposes the great humanitarian disgrace in Gaza.
He criticized the support and encouragement of this ongoing massacre by Zionist Israel, its allies in America, and other powers.
US authorities’ failure to hold anyone accountable even though Eygi holds American citizenship is a matter of concern, he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his associates will be held accountable in international courts, he added.
Following prayers, people gathered in front of the house and chanted "Death to Israel."
After prayers at the family home, her body was taken to Didim Central Mosque for a funeral ceremony.
After the ceremony, Kurtulmus quoted a verse from the Quran saying: "Never say that those martyred in the cause of Allah are dead – in fact, they are alive! But you do not perceive it."
He also said Eygi's blood will not go unavenged, stressing: "The oppressors will be held accountable for this in international courts."
Kurtulmus emphasized that Eygi is now the "daughter of all of Türkiye" and has the respect and prayers of billions of people across the world.
Eygi's body will be buried at the mosque after midday prayers.
- Killed by Israel during peaceful protest
Eygi, 26, had traveled to the region to support Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation, according to reports from the International Solidarity Movement.
On Sept. 3, Eygi went to observe a peaceful protest in the town of Beita in Nablus, in the West Bank, to stand against the illegal Israeli settlements there.
The movement reported that on Sept. 6 Eygi was intentionally targeted and killed by an Israeli sniper standing on a nearby rooftop.
Eyewitnesses reported that Eygi was far from the protest area when she was shot by the sniper. She was taken to a Palestinian hospital but could not be saved despite doctors’ best efforts.
Turkish diplomatic missions in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem coordinated the transfer of her body from Tel Aviv to Baku, Azerbaijan before her final journey to Türkiye.
Turkish authorities received Eygi’s body on Friday and transported it to the Izmir Forensic Medicine Institution for an autopsy.
Türkiye on Thursday also launched an investigation into the killing under domestic law.
The autopsy found that a bullet entered through her lower ear area.
The autopsy by the Izmir Forensic Medicine Institution has found that her cause of death was a skull fracture, brain hemorrhage, and brain tissue damage. There was a bullet entry wound but no exit wound, and metallic fragments from the bullet are being analyzed. Autopsy procedures are ongoing.
Eygi, born in the Turkish Mediterranean city of Antalya in 1998, pursued a double major in psychology and Middle Eastern languages and cultures at the University of Washington in Seattle, in the US Pacific Northwest.
She had graduated just this June, and was well known for her commitment to activism and community service.
Turkish diplomatic missions in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem coordinated the transfer of her body from Tel Aviv to Baku, Azerbaijan before her final journey to Türkiye.