A Turkish-American activist killed by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank was laid to rest on Saturday in her hometown in Turkey with thousands lining the streets and anti-Israeli sentiments rising in the country, from a conflict that threatens to spread across the Middle East.
Advertisement
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old woman from Seattle, was shot dead September 6 by an Israeli soldier during a demonstration against Israeli West Bank settlements, according to an Israeli protester who witnessed the shooting.
Thousands of people lined the streets in the Turkish coastal town of Didim on the Aegean Sea, as Eygi was buried in a coffin draped in a Turkish flag, which was taken from her family home. A portrait of her wearing her graduation gown was propped against the coffin as people paid their respects.
Her body was earlier brought from a hospital to her family home and Didim’s Central Mosque.
Turkey condemned the killing and announced it will 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 Kurtulmus, the speaker of Turkey’s parliament told mourners at the funeral.