Türkiye to Submit Evidence over Turkish-American Woman's Killing to International Courts

A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)
A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)
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Türkiye to Submit Evidence over Turkish-American Woman's Killing to International Courts

A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)
A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)

Türkiye will submit evidence about Israel's killing of a Turkish-American woman in the West Bank this month to the United Nations Security Council, International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), its justice minister said on Monday.

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was killed on Sept. 6 as she took part in a protest against settlement expansion in the West Bank amid the war in Gaza.

Israel has acknowledged that its troops shot the activist, but says it was an unintentional act during a demonstration that turned violent.

Israel's Western allies have been angered by surging settler assaults on Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, part of historic Palestine which Palestinians want for an independent state. The war in Gaza has also increased tensions in the region.

Türkiye has opened an investigation into Eygi's killing and will request international arrest warrants, Ankara said this month, while President Tayyip Erdogan said Türkiye would go to the ICJ over the matter, Reuters reported.

Eygi's killing has added strain to ties between Israel and its main ally the United States, which has been angered by the surge of assaults on Palestinians in the West Bank and demanded a swift investigation into the incident.

Washington has said that Eygi's killing was unacceptable and that Israel must ensure such an event never happens again.

Israel's initial findings on the killing do not exonerate its security forces, the United States said, warning that it would consider other measures if it is not satisfied with the results of a full Israeli probe.

"We will both bring Aysenur's reports to the United Nations Security Council's agenda, and submit our sister Aysenur's reports and evidence to the International Court of Justice, where the genocide case is continuing," Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters.

"We will also submit Aysenur's evidence to the ongoing investigation about Israeli aggressors at the International Criminal Court," he added, without giving a timeline.



France Warns That North Korean Troops Fighting in Ukraine Would Be an Escalation

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot shake hand with Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP)
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot shake hand with Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP)
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France Warns That North Korean Troops Fighting in Ukraine Would Be an Escalation

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot shake hand with Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP)
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot shake hand with Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP)

The involvement of North Korean regular troops to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine would be a serious escalation of the war, France and Ukraine's foreign ministers said at a joint press conference in Kyiv on Saturday.

France's Jean-Noel Barrot, who was making his first trip to Ukraine since becoming foreign minister in September, is also set to visit the east of the country on Sunday, where France will finance new two new centers for the protection of children impacted by the war.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused North Korea on Thursday of deploying officers alongside Russia and of preparing to send 10,000 soldiers to help Moscow's war effort, although NATO chief Mark Rutte said there was no evidence of Pyongyang's presence at this stage.

"It would be serious and push the conflict into a new stage, an additional escalatory stage," Barrot said in Kyiv, adding that such a move would signal that Moscow was struggling in the war.

His Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, said the risk of escalation from the move was "huge."

"This is a huge threat of further escalation of Russian aggression against Ukraine. There is a big risk of it growing out of its current scale and borders."

Earlier this week, Zelenskiy presented his "victory plan" which he said would enable Ukraine to end the war no later than next year. The first step of this plan was unconditional NATO membership for Ukraine.

France's foreign minister said Paris was open to the idea of an immediate invitation for Ukraine to join NATO, but that talks would continue on the subject with allies.

"Regarding the invitation for Ukraine to join NATO, we are open to it and it's a discussion that we are having with our partners," Barrot said.