Funeral held for Turkish-American activist shot by Israeli soldier

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Saturday marked the burial of the Turkish-American activist who was shot and killed by the Israeli Defense Forces while participating in a demonstration in the West Bank. Didim, Turkey, was the hometown of Azsenur Ezgi Eygi, a Seattle resident who was a dual citizen of the US and Turkey. Last week, while participating in a rally against settlement development, Egyi was shot and killed by Israeli authorities.

Israeli protester Jonathan Polland stated that she did not at the time constitute a threat to Israeli forces. According to him, there was a brief period of quiet after demonstrators and military clashed before the shooting occurred. The Israeli military claims Egyi was shot “indirectly and unintentionally.” Turkey declared that it would look into her death on its own. Speaker of the Turkish parliament Numan Kurtulus addressed the mourners, saying, “We are not going to leave our daughter’s blood on the ground and we demand responsibility and accountability for this murder.”

Thousands of people lined the streets with Turkish flags as they said her farewell. A cease-fire and the release of the remaining Hamas hostages are being pushed for by the US, Egypt, and Qatar. The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, was among those who strongly denounced her killing. Negotiations have stalled numerous times as Israel and Hamas accuse one another of proposing novel and intolerable demands.

Recep Tayvip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, denounced the continuing conflict during a meeting with the chairman of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s presidency. “What happened in Bosnia in the 1990s is now being experienced in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories,” he said in a press conference.

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