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 into scholarly work.
Fulbright Exchange Programs, a historical accomplishment of public diplomacy that have served as a cornerstone of academic collaboration between the US and more than forty countries across the globe, including Turkey, are now under threat, as arbitrary funding cuts and political intimidation have forced many of the current fellows to leave before the completion of their terms.
This alarming trend is not confined to the United States. In Turkey, student-led protests against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu have been met with harsh repression. Students and faculty have faced detention and prosecution simply for exercising their basic rights to free expression, assembly, and academic freedom. Among them is Levent Dölek, a faculty member at Istanbul University and workplace representative of Eğitim-Sen (Education and Science Workers’ Union), who was arrested after his union organized a work stoppage in solidarity with protesting students. These developments make clear that, across borders, the exercise of academic freedom and the right to dissent are increasingly under attack.
Scholarly inquiry, teaching, and learning rest on the core principles of academic freedom: free expression and exchange of ideas, and critical engagement with urgent and contentious political questions. When students and scholars face detention, visa revocation, or the loss of academic opportunities without due process, the very foundations of our fields are placed in grave jeopardy.
The Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association reaffirms, in the strongest possible terms, the fundamental rights of all students and researchers to pursue knowledge freely and safely, and the right of all individuals—regardless of citizenship status—to due process. We call on academic institutions and government bodies alike to defend these principles without compromise.