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The Turkish-American National Steering Committee (TASC), a civil society group representing the Turkish diaspora in the United States, announced that it will provide legal support to Turkish scientist Furkan Dolek, who was recently found to be held at a federal detention facility in New York.
In a written statement, TASC said the case had caused "deep concern" among the Turkish community in the U.S., pledging to back Dolek and his family.
The committee said it had appointed three lawyers to closely monitor the process and provide legal assistance to Dolek. According to TASC, these lawyers will coordinate directly with U.S. authorities and report developments to the family to ensure that the scientist’s rights are upheld during detention and legal proceedings.
The TASC also emphasized that it would continue to press for the case to proceed in what it described as a fair, transparent, and timely manner. In its statement, the group underlined its intention to maintain communication with relevant institutions and to make necessary interventions whenever procedural concerns arise.
Dolek, a researcher who has worked at prominent institutions including CERN, Fermilab, and Virginia Tech, came under scrutiny after raising safety concerns at Fermilab, a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory near Chicago. In March 2024, he reported what he identified as radioactive risks that could endanger researchers’ health, first to American authorities and later publicly on social media.
Following these disclosures, he was dismissed from his position in April 2024 and his research visa was revoked. Dolek filed a lawsuit challenging the visa cancellation, but his legal efforts were unsuccessful. As a result, he lived in the U.S. without valid documentation for four months and began a protest march toward Canada.
On August 27, Dolek stopped posting on social media, sparking concerns about his whereabouts. His posts had previously drawn widespread attention online, particularly from the academic and Turkish communities.
After inquiries by Türkiye’s Consulate General in New York, it was confirmed that he was being held at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement center near the Canadian border.
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