Author: Main Administrator

The Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association unequivocally condemns the arbitrary detention and immigration status revocation of students, including Badr Khan Suri, Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  The silencing and detention of these students is part of a growing and deeply concerning pattern of repression targeting students for exercising their rights to free expression and participation in campus debates—rights that are fundamental to academic life. As documented by the Middle East Studies Association, these detentions have occurred without due process and have sent a chilling message to all engaged in critical scholarship (see here and here). In another deeply troubling development, Harvard University recently removed Professor Cemal Kafadar and Associate Professor Rosie Bsheer from their positions as director and associate director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies following external complaints about programming related to Palestine and Lebanon. These dismissals, imposed in disregard of established procedures and norms of faculty governance, represent a dangerous intrusion of political interference...