Türkiye on Thursday condemned the detention of a Turkish national and student by U.S. federal agents over her pro-Palestine activism.
Speaking to members of international media on Thursday in Istanbul, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said it was “unacceptable” for Rumeysa Öztürk to be detained for “defending the Palestinian cause regarding Gaza.”
“Targeting her purely for supporting Palestine and subjecting her to this unjust treatment is unacceptable,” Tunç said, calling it a “wrong practice.”
Öztürk was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) late Tuesday near her home in Somerville, Massachusetts, while heading to an iftar dinner to break her fast during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, according to her lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai.
She was taken into custody by masked federal agents in broad daylight, with authorities claiming she engaged in activities supporting the Palestinian group Hamas – an allegation her family and advocates strongly deny.
No charges have been filed against Öztürk, according to her lawyer.
A viral video captured the moments of her detention, showing masked individuals handcuffing her despite her not resisting.
Her detention follows a campaign by Canary Mission, a pro-Israel website that blacklists pro-Palestine students and activists. In 2024, Öztürk co-authored an op-ed in Tufts University’s newspaper, The Tufts Daily, urging the school to acknowledge what she described as the Palestinian genocide and to divest from companies with ties to Israel.
The ICE Locator website indicated that Öztürk was being held at a detention facility in Louisiana.
Öztürk’s detention also comes amid the Trump administration’s widespread crackdown on pro-Palestinian students and academics, including Palestinian activist and recent Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil and Georgetown University researcher Badar Khan Suri.
“It has been nearly 500 days since the tragedy and genocide in Gaza continues,” Tunç said, lamenting Israeli airstrikes that killed 400 Palestinians overnight in Gaza during the holy month of Ramadan and nearly 60,000 people since Israel launched its onslaught on the blockaded enclave on Oct. 7, 2023.
“This is the biggest genocide in the past half a century. All elements of the U.N. Genocide Convention took place. It’s clear the convention has been violated in all aspects. Israel is on trial at the International Court of Justice because of this violation,” Tunç argued.
NATO member Türkiye has been a traditional ally to Palestine, but the more brutal Israeli attacks became, the harsher Ankara has made its criticism in the past year. It has condemned what it calls genocide, halted all trade with Israel and applied to join a genocide case against Israel at the world court, which Israel rejects.
Tunç lamented that the World Court “lacked the ability” to enforce the arrest warrants issued for Israeli authorities on charges of war crimes committed in Gaza.
“It’s unfortunate that Western countries are siding with Israel. We must all stand up for women and children there so they will not be killed,” he said. “Türkiye continues to defend the rights of the innocent in Gaza, as well as its humanitarian aid deliveries.”
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