US university calls for release of detained Turkish student

Tufts University publicly backed its student Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national detained by federal agents last week as part of US President Donald Trump's crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activism.

In a legal declaration signed by the Massachusetts university's president Sunil Kumar, Tufts demands that the 30-year-old doctoral candidate be "released without delay so that she can return to complete her studies and finish her degree" at the school.

Video of Ozturk's arrest by masked agents on a sidewalk has sparked outrage online, and added to concerns about freedom of speech and respect for due process under Trump.

Tufts is taking a stand as Trump has targeted prestigious universities that became the epicenter of the US student protest movement sparked by Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, stripping federal funds and directing immigration officers to deport foreign student demonstrators.

Critics argue that the campaign amounts to retribution and will have a chilling effect on free speech, while its supporters insist it is necessary to restore order to campuses and protect Jewish students.

In its statement, the school asserted that it has "no information to support the allegations that she was engaged in activities at Tufts that warrant her arrest and detention."

It described Ozturk as "a valued member of the community, dedicated to her academic pursuits and committed to her colleagues," and said she had received an outpouring of support from students and staff.

Ozturk co-authored an article in the university student newspaper in March 2024 criticizing the college's handling of student anger around Israel's war in Gaza.

She is contesting her detention in a federal court in Massachusetts.

Trump has targeted institutions including New York's Columbia University, initially putting $400 million of funding under review, detaining for deportation Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student linked to pro-Palestinian movement, and seeking to arrest others.

Columbia then announced a package of concessions to the government around defining anti-Semitism, policing protests and oversight for specific academic departments.

They stopped short, however, of meeting some of the more strident demands of the Trump administration, which nonetheless welcomed the Ivy League college's proposals and said a review of its funding was "ongoing."

The US government will also review some $9 billion in funding for Harvard University over alleged anti-Semitism on its campus, authorities said this week.