By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

The Turkish Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau filed charges of ‘premeditated murder’ in the case of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.

The Turkish Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau has added witness accounts and evidence to the file of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi who was killed by Israeli occupation forces on September 6, in Beita in the occupied West Bank, Anadolu news agency reported.

The bureau, which has previously classified the killing of the young activist as a “crime against humanity”, has filed charges of “premeditated murder” against the perpetrators.

According to Anadolu, the new material that was added to the file of the slain activist includes eyewitness accounts, photos, video footage, and an autopsy report from the Palestinian judicial authorities.

The office of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor is reportedly in the process of studying the materials to determine the identity of the perpetrators behind the killing of Eygi, Anadolu said.

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The Turkish investigation has found that the events that led to the killing of the Turkish-American activist took place during a peaceful demonstration by international solidarity activists from various countries in Beita, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank

According to the ongoing investigation, the Israeli occupation army has reportedly thrown teargas canisters following Friday prayers on the gathering and occupied a nearby Palestinian house where it took position.

The probe went on to say that soon after, the young activist was hit by gunfire from Israeli soldiers positioned on the rooftop of the house resulting in fatal injuries that led to her death.

‘Intent to Kill’

An American eyewitness by the name of Alex Edward Harrison Chabbott revealed that the Israeli occupation army “fired tear gas as soon as the march began, forcing protesters to seek cover,” Anadolu reported.

The American activist said that he heard two gunshots from the rooftop where the Israeli occupation forces were positioned “with the second hitting Eygi,” stressing that the Turkish-American activist was “directly targeted with intent to kill.”

British eyewitness Dominic Robin Sedol gave a similar account of events.  

He disclosed that the Israeli occupation forces started firing tear gas at the crowd at 1 pm local time.

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The British activist said while they were taking refuge between the olive trees, he heard “at least two gunshots,” and then looked to find Eygi on the ground.

The Israeli occupation soldiers fired with “the intent to kill Ayse directly,” he emphasized as quoted by Anadolu.

On his part, Australian activist Helen Maria O’Sullivan confirmed that they had come to Beita and staged their protest in peace with the intention “to observe and document.”

The Australian activist revealed that while she was hiding, she heard other protesters scream ‘live bullets’ in English, with Eygi within the “soldiers’ line of sight” when the second gunshot was heard.

“There was no one else armed in the area,” O’Sullivan was quoted as saying by Anadolu.

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For his part, Israeli activist Jonathan Polak Pasterbnak, who was also present at the peaceful protest, confirmed that the Israeli occupation soldiers fired live ammunition.

After he heard the second shot, Pasterbnak ran over to see Eygi lying on the ground bleeding from her head.

“I looked at the soldiers on the roof of the house and saw that the soldiers were still there, they had directly targeted Aysenur,” he was quoted by Anadolu as saying.

US is Yet to Open Probe

The family of the Turkish-American activist has urged the US government to order an independent investigation into her death.

At the same, the killing of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, during a protest against illegal Jewish settlements in the town of Beita in the Nablus district, has been condemned worldwide.

“A U.S. citizen, Aysenur was peacefully standing for justice when she was killed by a bullet that video shows came from an Israeli military shooter. We welcome the White House’s statement of condolences, but given the circumstances of Aysenur’s killing, an Israeli investigation is not adequate,” Eygi’s family said in a statement.

“We call on President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Secretary of State Blinken to order an independent investigation into the unlawful killing of a U.S. citizen and to ensure full accountability for the guilty parties,” they added.

Witnesses reported that Israeli soldiers opened live fire on a group participating in a demonstration condemning the illegal settlements on Mount Sbeih in Beita, south of Nablus.

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They said Eygi, an International Solidarity Movement (ISM) volunteer, was standing away from the main protest area when she was fatally shot. Despite being rushed to a nearby hospital, medical workers were unable to save her.

In a statement, the ISM refuted some media reports which it said “repeated false claims that ISM activists threw rocks” during “the peaceful demonstration” in Beita.

“All eyewitness accounts refute this claim. Aysenur was more than 200 meters away from where the Israeli soldiers were, and there were no confrontations there at all in the minutes before she was shot. Regardless, from such distance, neither she, nor anyone else could have possibly been perceived as posing any threat. She was killed in cold blood.”

“Aysenur, who we consider a martyr in the struggle,” was the 18th demonstrator to be killed in Beita since 2020, the statement said.

(Anadolu, PC)