US working to repatriate body of killed pro-Palestinian activist amid Israel-Turkey tensions
The US has stepped in behind the scenes to help repatriate the remains of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, the 26-year-old pro-Palestinian activist and dual national killed by Israeli fire at a protest in the occupied West Bank, amid frayed ties between Israel and Turkey, one current and one former US official told MEE.
The US's diplomacy comes as US President Joe Biden faces criticism for his delay to condemn the Israeli military's killing of Eygi last week.
Biden's approach contrasts sharply with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has slammed Israel and jolted diplomatic ties.
On Saturday, Erdogan said Israel had "heinously murdered our young child” and vowed to take “legal steps” against Israel, including going to The Hague.
Then on Monday, Turkey’s foreign ministry put out a statement saying that they are "working on the option of bringing the body directly to Turkey by plane to avoid further delays”.
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Those comments were seen by the US as if Turkey is looking to score political points off the back of US diplomatic efforts to help ensure a swift repatriation of Eygi's remains to Turkey per her family's request, the officials told Middle East Eye.
Eygi was born in Turkey but moved to the US when she was around one year old. She was raised in the Seattle area of Washington State. Her dual nationality has held up a window to the two Nato allies' stark differences over Israel.
Biden vs Erdogan reaction
Eygi, a longtime pro-Palestinian activist with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), was shot in the head when Israeli soldiers opened fire on protestors in Beita village in the occupied West Bank last week.
On Tuesday, Israel’s military said it was “highly likely” Eygi was killed by Israeli fire “indirectly and unintentionally”.
Eyewitnesses have disputed the Israeli claim, telling MEE that she was not near any violence at the time she was killed.
An activist present at the protest said they retreated from soldiers who had shot tear gas into the crowd. Then two rounds of live ammunition were fired at the group, the activist said, one of which struck Eygi in the head.
"When she was shot, she was standing there doing absolutely nothing with one other woman - it was a deliberate shot because they shot from a very, very, very far distance," an activist told MEE for a previous article.
Her killing comes after Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akhlah was shot and killed by Israel in the occupied West Bank in May 2023.
US President Joe Biden initially issued a muted statement backing the Israeli assessment that the bullet that killed Eygi appeared to have “ricocheted off the ground", but as criticism grows, the administration has become more vocal.
On Wednesday, Biden said he was “outraged and deeply saddened” by the killing, which he said was the result of "an unnecessary escalation".
But Eygi's family has demanded the US call for an independent investigation into her killing. In a statement, they said they were “deeply offended by the suggestion that her killing by a trained sniper was in any way unintentional”.
Eygi’s partner, Hamid Ali, said Biden had still not called Eygi’s family, which contrasts with Erdogan’s decision to phone her mother and offer condolences.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a fiercer criticism of Israel, saying that Eygi's killing was "unprovoked and unjustified".
“No one, no one should be shot and killed for attending a protest," he said. “Now we have the second American citizen killed at the hands of Israeli security forces. It’s not acceptable. It has to change. And we’ll be making that clear to the senior-most members of the Israeli government".
When asked by MEE about the allegations, a Turkish official said "our Consulate-General in Jerusalem is fully operational and we are in constant contact with Israeli authorities and offering complete consular service".
The official said Turkish and American officials jointly attended a CT scan this morning in Israel of Eygi's body, a necessary step to check for bullet fragments before it is taken by plane.
"The body's transportation process is facilitated and led by the Turkish Consulate-General and the coffin will be sealed and brought to Turkey through a scheduled commercial flight soon," they added.
The State Department didn't respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
US and Turkey at odds over Gaza
Turkey was the first Muslim-majority country to recognise Israel in 1949, but during Erdogan's two decades in power, he has moved to position Turkey as a defender of the Palestinian cause.
When Israel’s war on Gaza broke out after the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on southern Israel, Turkey initially kept its criticism towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government muted, and also condemned Hamas's attacks on civilians.
But Erdogan had become more vocal in criticising Israel, as Palestinian deaths in Gaza soared. Turkish rhetoric heated up further after Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party lost support to a new conservative party in municipal elections.
In August, Turkey officially requested to join South Africa's case at the International Criminal Court accusing Israel of genocide.
In Turkey, the Gaza war is an impassioned issue. And in September, US soldiers while in the country were attacked by a group of Turkish nationalists.
Asked whether Erdogan's comments had hindered the repatriation process, the Turkish official said, "One of our citizens has been killed and reacting to this incident couldn’t be possibly considered as politicizing it".
Other US partners like Jordan and Egypt have slammed Israel as the death toll in Gaza hits over 41,000 women and children killed.
But a particular irritant in the relationship between Erdogan and Washington has been Erdogan's praise for Hamas. The US considers the group a terrorist organisation and is providing intelligence support for Israel to kill and capture Hamas leaders.
Erdogan has called Hamas's armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, “freedom fighters”, and said the group is Turkey’s first line of defence against a potential Israeli attack on its territory. Turkey has also blocked all Nato cooperation with Israel since October, according to Reuters.
It can normally take one week to repatriate the body of someone who dies of natural causes overseas, but if the death needs to be investigated, it can take two weeks to three months in any country, according to experts.
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