Ankara launches probe into killing of Turkish-US activist

Ankara has opened an investigation into the death of a 26-year-old Turkish-American activist fatally shot by Israeli forces while protesting settlements in the occupied West Bank.

"We will conduct studies to prepare a report," Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said at an event in the capital Ankara on Sept. 12.

Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old activist from Seattle, was shot on Sept. 6 while demonstrating near Mount Sbeih. Despite being away from the main protest area, she was hit by live fire used by Israeli soldiers.

Eygi was rushed to a hospital but later succumbed to her injuries. The Israeli military said she was "likely shot indirectly and unintentionally."

Tunç said Türkiye will work to include the findings in the ongoing genocide case against Israel, launched by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

"We will work for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry and the preparation of a report," he added.

The procedures for transferring Eygi's body were completed by Turkish consulates in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and the activist's body is expected to arrive in Türkiye on Sept. 13, the Foreign Ministry confirmed.

Her body was to arrive via a flight from Tel Aviv to Baku late on Sept. 12 before being transferred to Istanbul, diplomatic sources told local media.

The burial is scheduled to take place on Sept. 13 or 14 in her hometown of Didim in western Türkiye, they added.

Late on Sept. 11, hundreds of people traveled to a Seattle beach to mourn Eygi.

"I can't imagine what she felt like in her last moments, lying alone under the olive trees," one of her friends, Kelsie Nabass, told the crowd at the vigil. "What did she think of? And did she know all of us would...