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| Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, second from left, holds the sign, "I Stand With Standing Rock," at the Oceti Sakowin Camp, in the defense of water from the Dakota Access Pipeline. |
Turkey Will Seek Arrest Warrants in Murder of Aysenur Eygi, Standing Rock Water Protector
Updated Sept. 14, 2024
"Turkey’s president, Mr. Erdogan, said on Monday that his country would seek to add her killing to a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. After Ms. Eygi’s body arrived in Turkey on Friday, Turkey performed an autopsy before transporting it to Didim," reports New York Times, from Aysenur Eygi's funeral in Turkey.
Friends and relatives recalled her as passionate about standing up for people she considered to be victims of injustice.
"That conviction fueled her involvement, often with socialist groups, in activism in Mexico, Myanmar, Australia and Seattle. In the winter of 2016-2017, she camped out with other activists in North Dakota to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline, which was slated to run near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation."
by New York Times
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| Procession in the West Bank/The Nation |
Turkey has opened an investigation into the murder of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a U.S. citizen with dual Turkish citizenship, who grew up in Seattle. Aysenur was murdered by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank during a peaceful protest. Turkey will request international arrest warrants for the murder of Aysenur.
The international peace activists with Aysenur said they had gathered for prayer in opposition to illegal settlements in the West Bank, and were fired on with tear gas. They ran for shelter beneath an olive tree, where Aysenur was struck with a bullet in the head, fired from a roof top about two football fields away. She fell immediately to the ground, with blood pouring from her left temple and nose. She had been there less than two hours.
Forensic experts who viewed the autopsy report said the damage on Aysenur's skull suggests that it was a direct hit. The bullet hit near her left earlobe backwards.
The body of Aysenur, 26, who came to Standing Rock in support of the resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline in the winter of 2016 -- 2017, will arrive in Turkey on Friday. Her father said the funeral was set for Saturday in the Turkish Aegean coastal city of Didim.
Ezgi at Standing Rock
Colin Moen was in the group of activists with Aysenur, who was known to her friends as Ezgi, who joined the struggle against the Dakota Access Pipeline in Standing Rock in North Dakota. The Socialist Alternative shares his words.
“During the height of the No DAPL movement in winter of 2016-17, Ezgi and I were both part of a small group of socialists that drove from Seattle to Standing Rock to join in the occupation against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
In the days leading up to our arrival, viral footage had emerged of private police unleashing attack dogs on peaceful protesters. We stayed at the Oceti Sakowin camp, which at the time was under constant surveillance and intimidation by law enforcement.
Each night, the camp would be lit up by a string of police floodlights in the surrounding foothills. It was extremely cold, so we had to sleep fully-clothed in our sleeping bags with our coats and snow-pants on in order to stay warm.
None of this daunted Ezgi one bit; what mattered was that ordinary people were moving into struggle to fight against oppression and climate catastrophe, and she didn’t hesitate for a second to play an active role in that struggle.”
Friends with Aysenur describe her assassination
"It was an intentional killing which can not be justified," said Jonathan Pollak, who tried to resuscitate Aysenur as she bled to death.
"It was quiet, there was nothing to justify the shot, the shot was taken to kill," Pollak said.
Aysenur was assassinated after dozens of Palestinians and international activists held a communal prayer on a hillside outside Beita overlooking an Israeli settlement.
"She must have put her head out to have a look to see what was happening. And then I heard a gunshot, and I looked and she just dropped."
She called Aysenur's name, because she thought she had just dropped out of fear, but she turned her, and saw blood on her left temple, and blood from her nose. She knew she was gone, her eyes were glazed over.
"That home belonged to the daughter of Munir Khudair, who was on the roof that Friday, he told Al Jazeera: “Of course, the army surrounds this house every Friday and climbs onto the roof to use it to shoot at demonstrators. The army came … and we went downstairs.”
"At the time when two shots sounded, Munir said, there were no confrontations or friction. 'I think it was a sniper who fired,' he said, adding: 'We heard shouting from the group, saying: ‘Injury! Injury!'”
"I just couldn't believe that anyone could actually hold up a rifle, look through the scope, look at her head, look at her beautiful face and shoot straight to her head."
"We had never heard shots before," the woman said.
"Someone shouted 'live ammunition,'" she said. "We ran into the olive garden."
Aysenur was there less than two hours before Israeli forces assassinated her.
https://x.com/i/status/1832825403775549920
(Photo) Where Aysenur Eygi and the Israel soldier who killed her were located when she was shot, according to the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call.
Pollak, an Israeli peace activist who participated in Friday’s protest with Eygi, said she posed no threat when Israeli forces shot her. He said the killing happened during a period of calm after clashes between soldiers and Palestinian protesters, Associated Press reports.
Pollak, an Israeli peace activist who participated in Friday’s protest with Eygi, said she posed no threat when Israeli forces shot her. He said the killing happened during a period of calm after clashes between soldiers and Palestinian protesters, Associated Press reports.
"Pollak said he saw two Israeli soldiers mount the roof of a nearby home, train a gun in the group’s direction and fire, with one of the bullets striking Eygi in the head."
Israeli Soldiers Took over House Rooftop Nearby
Al Jazeera reports, "The activists were standing within the built-up area of Beita for about 30 minutes, during which time the soldiers took over the rooftop of a house at the top of the hill.""That home belonged to the daughter of Munir Khudair, who was on the roof that Friday, he told Al Jazeera: “Of course, the army surrounds this house every Friday and climbs onto the roof to use it to shoot at demonstrators. The army came … and we went downstairs.”
"At the time when two shots sounded, Munir said, there were no confrontations or friction. 'I think it was a sniper who fired,' he said, adding: 'We heard shouting from the group, saying: ‘Injury! Injury!'”
Always with the brightest smile, Aysenur planned to attend law school
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| Aysenur recently graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle. Photo courtesy family of Aysenur |
“She was a light in any room,” Kelsie Nabass, a friend of Eygi, said.
“She always had the biggest, brightest smile on her face. She was the friend in the room that would make jokes and little side comments and just make sure that the vibe was always fun. She was very warm and very, very inviting," Al Jazeera reports today.
Eygi was 26 years old. She had big dreams and wanted to attend graduate school to get a law degree. Her life was cut short when an Israeli soldier shot her in the head as she was attending a demonstration against an illegal settler outpost on September 6.
The Autopsy Report
The report says the bullet left a semi-circular abrasion that had a dimension of 1.5cm and 1.4cm near the left earlobe backwards, Middle Eastern Eye reports.
“It is located 11 cm from the middle of the top of the head, and represents an entry wound from a bullet,” the report said.
Sermet Koc, a veteran forensic expert and professor who has practiced autopsies for decades in Turkey, agreed with the assessment that it was a direct hit to the head rather than from a ricochet.
“Moreover, the size of the entry wound may indicate the bullet wasn’t fired from a simple gun or rifle but from a more sophisticated weapon,” he told MEE, raising the possibility of sniper fire.
Continue reading the autopsy report:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/aysenur-ezgi-eygi-was-killed-direct-hit-autopsy-report-indicates
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/aysenur-ezgi-eygi-was-killed-direct-hit-autopsy-report-indicates
Turkey to seek international arrest warrants
He told reporters that Turkey had evidence regarding the killing and would make international arrest requests.
“We Can’t Stop Fighting Until We Win:”
Honoring Eygi’s Heroic And Revolutionary Life
Sept. 8, 2024, by Socialist Alternative
https://www.socialistalternative.org/2024/09/08/we-cant-stop-fighting-until-we-win-honoring-ezgi-eygis-heroic-and-revolutionary-life/
‘Light in any room’: Friends hail Aysenur Eygi, US citizen killed by Israel
The American Turkish activist, fatally shot by Israeli forces in the West Bank, is remembered as joyous, passionate and warm, by Al Jazeera, Sept. 13, 2024
‘Light in any room’: Friends hail Aysenur Eygi, US citizen killed by Israel
The American Turkish activist, fatally shot by Israeli forces in the West Bank, is remembered as joyous, passionate and warm, by Al Jazeera, Sept. 13, 2024
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