Trump v. Öztürk: So this is America now
Rümeysa’s case is symbolic because it chillingly reveals three entangled stories: Trump’s America, Netanyahu’s Israel, and Erdoğan’s selective outrage.
“Everyone should read the op-ed she co-authored and then watch the footage of her abduction. The contrast is shocking. That single op-ed is the sole basis for her continued detention. She has now been imprisoned for over two weeks without any reasonable justification,” said one lawyer1.
Another added2, “The government has confirmed that the sole basis for any of its actions against her is her co-authorship of an op-ed. A single minute in detention on this basis is an affront to us all, let alone the near three weeks she has spent in a facility far from any of her community.”
A third3 put it bluntly: “To be clear, the government is trying to punish and deport Rümeysa for co-authoring an op-ed espousing a view the administration doesn’t like, and she’s now been locked in a detention center for over two weeks for saying what she thinks.”
These lawyers do not practice in Turkey, Russia, or Belarus. They are not part of the bar in Venezuela, Egypt, or Hungary. They live and work in the United St…
