Turkey seeks Interpol Red Notice in Israeli killing of US activist

ANKARA — The office of Ankara’s chief prosecutor has begun an investigation into the killing of a US-Turkish, pro-Palestinian activist in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with the possibility of requesting red notices for the Israeli nationals responsible for her death, Turkey’s Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said on Thursday.

"We have launched an investigation into those responsible for the martyrdom and killing of our sibling Aysenur Ezgi Eygi," Tunc told reporters. "As part of the investigation, we will be issuing international arrest warrants through a Red Notice. We will demand it. We will request their arrest."

Red Notices are published by Interpol, an intergovernmental organization of 196 member countries, including Turkey, Israel and the United States. They serve as requests for law enforcement around the world to detain individuals for whom member states have issued arrest warrants.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also vowed on Monday to take whatever legal action is needed to hold Israel accountable for Eygi's killing.

The investigation, authorized by a provision for crimes committed against Turkish nationals abroad, will approach Eygi's death as an "intentional killing" under the rubric of "crimes against humanity," Turkey’s official Anadolu Agency reported.

Eygi, 26, died on Friday after being shot in the head by Israeli forces during a protest against settlements in the West Bank. Eygi had been a volunteer with Faz3a, an initiative launched in 2019 by local activists to protect Palestinian farmers from settler attacks while harvesting their crops.

The Israeli army said on Tuesday that Eygi was likely "hit indirectly and unintentionally" by fire from its forces.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken slammed the killing of the dual US-Turkish national as "unjust" and "unprovoked" and called on the Israeli government to fundamentally change the way its forces operate in the West Bank.

Tunc added that Turkey will work to include Eygi’s killing in the ongoing case against Israeli officials at the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others for alleged war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.

Turkey has already applied to join South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of acts of genocide in the conduct of the ongoing military offensive in Gaza against Hamas.

Eygi was "shot in the head, and there are images of those responsible," Tunc said. "Everything is clear. We have the evidence in our hands."

The Turkish Foreign Ministry announced that the procedures for transferring Eygi’s body had been completed on Thursday and that her remains will arrive in Turkey on Friday.

"We once again condemn this murder committed by the genocidal Netanyahu government," read the ministry's statement. "We will make every effort to ensure that this crime does not go unpunished."

According to Tunc, Eygi’s body will be transported to Turkey via Azerbaijan. She is expected to be buried in the western Aegean town of Didim.

Eygi’s spouse, Hamid Mazhar Ali, a US national of Pakistani descent, along with her father and sister have traveled to Didim, Anadolu reported.

"Aysenur was not only in Palestine, but everywhere humanity needed her," her uncle Yilmaz Eygi, who lives in Didim, told Anadolu.