Abdullah Bozkurt/Stockholm
A man who has family members in the Turkish government has been indicted in the United States on federal charges stemming from an alleged campaign of intimidation and violence that included discussions about poisoning victims, targeting their children, burning down homes and carrying out other attacks against individuals perceived as supporting Israel.
Ahmet Kerem Korkaya (or Körkaya in Turkish spelling), a former University of Michigan medical student and the son of a US-based Turkish-American researcher with extensive ties to the Turkish government, is among eight defendants named in a 63-page federal indictment unsealed in the Eastern District of Michigan. Prosecutors accuse Korkaya and his co-defendants — Zainab Aliasgar Hakim, Amatullah Aliasgar Hakim, Paige Elizabeth Feyock, Jonathan Hongru Zou, Alexander Matthew Sepulveda, Mariam Muhammed Odeh and Colin Hunter Weger — of participating in a conspiracy that targeted University of Michigan officials, members of the university’s Board of Regents, various businesses and Jewish organizations in an effort to force the university and other institutions to sever ties with Israel.
The indictment paints Korkaya as one of the most aggressive figures in the alleged conspiracy, citing a series of encrypted communications in which he allegedly advocated violent retaliation against university officials and their families. According to prosecutors Korkaya was actively involved in discussions about determining home addresses, conducting surveillance and intimidating targets through direct actions designed to instill fear.
Federal prosecutors allege that following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, Korkaya and other activists became involved in organizing what they described as “autonomous actions” against individuals they believed were connected to or supportive of Israel. The indictment claims the group used encrypted messaging applications, social media platforms and online collaboration tools to coordinate activities, identify targets and publicize their actions.
At the center of the government’s case against Korkaya are a series of messages exchanged on May 21, 2024, between him and co-defendant Feyock. The communications, cited extensively in the indictment, allegedly reveal discussions about harming university officials and their families.
According to the indictment, Korkaya wrote that he wanted to obtain the address of a university regent so he could drive his car into the property. He allegedly added that the regent’s “entire family” had been put on his “hit list.” Prosecutors say Feyock responded by suggesting that activists should target the children of university officials as well.
The indictment further alleges that Korkaya expressed frustration over the Gaza war and stated that he wanted to take action as “the only way to clear my conscious [sic].” In one of the most disturbing passages cited by prosecutors, Korkaya allegedly wrote that he intended to become “the dirtiest fucking doctor ever” and claimed he would like to become a target’s physician in order to “poison her ass slowly.”
According to the indictment, Feyock responded by agreeing and suggesting that activists should have people follow another victim, enter the person’s home and then burn it down.
The 63-page federal indictment against Ahmet Kerem Korkaya and seven co-defendants unsealed in May 2026 in the Eastern District of Michigan:
Although prosecutors have not alleged that these particular threats were carried out, they argue that the messages demonstrate the intent and mindset of members of the conspiracy and provide evidence of a broader campaign of intimidation directed at selected targets.
The federal indictment describes a movement that evolved from campus activism into what prosecutors characterize as organized criminal conduct. Investigators claim members of the group researched personal information on targets, conducted surveillance and discussed methods of inflicting harm through physical attacks, psychological pressure and property destruction.
The targets allegedly included the president of the University of Michigan, members of the Board of Regents, university administrators, a university police officer, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and businesses such as Rolls-Royce Solutions America and Maersk.
According to prosecutors, the defendants coordinated activities through encrypted group chats and online planning sessions. They allegedly recruited additional participants, purchased supplies, mapped out routes and prepared operational plans before carrying out nighttime actions against homes and businesses.
The indictment claims participants vandalized properties with slogans such as “INTIFADA” and “DIVEST NOW,” painted red handprints and inverted red triangles on buildings, broke windows, blocked entrances and threw containers filled with butyric acid and dye into targeted properties.
Federal investigators say the activists frequently photographed their actions and posted the images online together with messages intended to intimidate their targets and amplify the psychological impact of the attacks.
One operation highlighted in the indictment involved a University of Michigan regent. Prosecutors allege that activists used the encrypted collaboration platform CryptPad.fr to organize a campaign specifically targeting members of the Board of Regents. Planning documents allegedly discussed conducting “house visits” in the middle of the night because doing so “might appear more threatening.”
U.S. federal prosecutors filed a court brief detailing what they described as the danger Ahmet Kerem Korkaya and his co-defendants pose to the community, citing alleged threats, vandalism and expressions of support for Hamas:
In May 2024 activists allegedly entered a regent’s property illegally and staged a disturbing display involving bloody baby dolls, a broken crib and objects arranged to resemble corpses. The display was accompanied by demands that the university divest from Israel and was later promoted on social media.
The indictment also links the defendants to a campaign against another regent who was an equity partner at a law firm. Prosecutors allege that activists left demands at his residence before vandalizing his law office with paint, handprints and graffiti.
Korkaya is accused of participating in the broader conspiracy that allegedly sought to pressure university leadership through threats, intimidation and vandalism. Although he moved to Wisconsin in 2024, prosecutors say he repeatedly returned to Michigan to participate in planning meetings and actions related to the campaign.
The indictment does not identify Korkaya’s family members, but in a supplemental brief supporting detention filed with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division on June 12, prosecutors stated that “He is a naturalized U.S. citizen, but still has his expired Turkish passport. In fact, according to Korkaya, he has family in the Turkish government.”
Korkaya was born in Turkey, moved around with his family and lived in India before moving to the US. He was active in the Muslim Students Association while attending Georgia Tech. His father, Hasan Körkaya, worked as a cancer researcher at the University of Michigan Medical School. He currently serves as the Tumor Biology & Microenvironment Program Leader at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and is a faculty member at the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan.
Korkaya’s family appears to have longstanding ties to institutions affiliated with Turkey’s Islamist establishment. In June 2019 his father delivered a lecture at Lokman Hekim University in Ankara, a private institution founded in 2017 by members of the İskenderpaşa Community (İskenderpaşa Cemaati), a prominent Sunni religious network that has maintained close relations with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Followers of the group have frequently secured appointments in state institutions and public-sector positions during Erdogan’s tenure, benefiting from ideological affinity with the government. The movement and its associated circles have often promoted strongly anti-Israel rhetoric and, at times, language criticized by observers as carrying antisemitic undertones.
Korkaya’s father also maintains extensive ties with Istanbul Medipol University and its affiliated hospital, a private institution founded and chaired by Fahrettin Koca, who served as Turkey’s health minister from 2018 to 2024 in President Erdogan’s cabinet. Medipol has long enjoyed close relations with Erdogan’s government and has benefited from substantial public support and favorable policies. It has long been rumored that Medipol is actually owned by first lady Emine Erdogan, who holds an undisclosed stake. Medipol-affiliated hospitals have provided medical services to members of Erdogan’s family and senior government officials for years.
Academic records from the Medical College of Georgia indicate that Korkaya’s father served as the principal Ph.D. advisor for several Turkish doctoral candidates, including students funded through fellowships awarded by the state-run Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK). Those mentoring activities suggest that he has maintained professional links with Turkish government-sponsored academic programs and researchers.
His son Korkaya and the other defendants now face federal charges including conspiracy to transmit threats in interstate and foreign commerce. Other defendants face additional charges including witness tampering conspiracy and destruction of property to prevent seizure.
In a brief for Korkaya’s detention hearing prosecutors said Korkaya embraced Hamas symbolism and propaganda to such an extent that investigators recovered from his electronic devices videos described as Hamas propaganda material depicting militants using inverted red triangles to designate targets before killing them. Federal prosecutors say Korkaya and several co-defendants also exchanged and possessed videos showing Hamas attacks and killings, arguing that the imagery later resurfaced in vandalism campaigns directed at individuals and institutions targeted by the group.
The detention memorandum portrays Korkaya as an eager participant in what prosecutors characterize as a criminal conspiracy, alleging that he traveled from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Ann Arbor, Michigan, specifically to take part in attacks against targets selected by the group.
The US government’s emergency appeal seeking to overturn a magistrate judge’s release order for Ahmet Kerem Korkaya pending trial:
One of the incidents highlighted by prosecutors involved a June 30, 2024, operation targeting Rolls-Royce Solutions America. Authorities allege that Korkaya and his associates padlocked doors, painted inverted red triangles on the building, smeared red handprints on windows, hurled red paint balloons at company signs and spray-painted messages including “Long Live the Intifada.” The same day, photographs of the vandalism were posted online together with a statement calling for supporters worldwide to “damage, disrupt, and destroy the colonizers’ operations by any means necessary” and praising “martyrs” and “freedom fighters.”
Federal prosecutors further allege that Korkaya participated in a coordinated series of attacks carried out on October 7, 2024, the first anniversary of Hamas’ assault on Israel. According to the government, members of the group referred to such operations as “red actions,” distinguishing them from legal activities they called “green” actions. Korkaya was named among defendants accused of taking part in attacks on the residence of the University of Michigan’s chief investment officer, the home of the university president and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. Prosecutors claim the participants later boasted about the incidents on social media and posted additional messages intended to intimidate their targets.
Court documents also allege that Korkaya took part in another attack on November 27, 2024, targeting the home of a University of Michigan police officer. Prosecutors say Korkaya researched officers employed by the university’s Department of Public Safety Services before joining others in spraying inverted red triangles on the officer’s garage and throwing mason jars containing noxious chemicals at the house. One jar reportedly shattered a plate-glass window and landed inside the residence. Three days later, according to prosecutors, participants publicized the incident online and warned that individuals accused of contributing to what they called genocide were “not safe” as long as they continued their activities.
Combined with allegations in the indictment that Korkaya discussed putting victims and their family members on a “hit list,” fantasized about becoming “the dirtiest doctor ever” in order to poison a target slowly and exchanged messages about burning down a victim’s house, prosecutors argue that his conduct went well beyond political activism and reflected a willingness to contemplate serious acts of violence.
When federal agents arrested Korkaya in Milwaukee on June 10, 2026, prosecutors say they found a flag depicting a Hamas militant and an image portraying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as decapitated in front of the Knesset, marked with an inverted red triangle. The government argued that Korkaya posed both a danger to the community and a flight risk, citing his possession of a Turkish passport, plans to travel to Brazil later in June and statements indicating that he did not intend to return to Michigan.
Korkaya was released on bond in Wisconsin, and later in a separate modified bond hearing in a Michigan court where he pleaded not guilty to five counts of conspiracy to transmit threats in interstate and foreign commerce. Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Under the modified bond order, Korkaya was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond and ordered to remain under GPS monitoring, observe a nightly curfew from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., surrender all passports and international travel documents, avoid contact with co-defendants and alleged victims and limit his travel to the Eastern Districts of Michigan and Wisconsin unless granted permission by the court or pretrial services.
During the hearing, defense counsel told the judge that Korkaya had been attending medical school in Wisconsin and that his parents and in-laws reside in Michigan.
