Oklahoma City Thunder’s Enes Kanter finds himself jammed up in Romania. He casts the blame on Turkey for putting him in this pickle (and no, I don’t mean a Reuben sandwich). His passport was revoked and he has been detained by airport police. Kanter has been outspoken against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s regime and believes what is currently happening to him is politically-motivated.
Kanter responded to the situation on his Twitter page. He released a video, stating that the reason why he is being detained with his passport revoked is simply because of his political views. He calls Turkish President Erdogan “the Hitler of our century.”
If this Oklahoma City Thunder center is deported back to Turkey then he’ll likely face arrest. Here is the video of Kanter venting about the ordeal on Twitter:
Here is Ernes Kanters exact words:
“What’s up, world? Just wanted to say we are in Romania, and they said they canceled my passport by Turkish embassy. You know, they been holding us here for hours by these two police. [Kanter rotates his camera towards the officers]
You know, because the reason behind it is just of course my political views, and the guy who did it is, you know, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey … he’s attacked people in Washington. He’s a bad, bad man. He’s a dictator, and he’s the Hitler of our century. So I will keep you posted, guys, but just pray for us, and I’ll tell you guys what’s going on. Appreciate it.”
Supporters of Kanter took to Twitter to voice their support and concern for the detained athlete and possible political prisoner.
Kanter’s family, back in Turkey, won’t be showing the same type of support to their estranged relative. He is currently disowned by his family, according to an article in The Daily Oklahoman:
In August of 2016, Kanter was disowned by his family, which still lives in Turkey. The Daily Sabah, cited as a “supportive voice” of Erdogan’s party, quoted Kanter’s father, Mehmet, as saying he disowned his son for his affiliation with the Gulen Movement. Fethullah Gulen is an Islamic leader who has been in exile in Pennsylvania for more than 15 years who is in direct opposition to Erdogan and his reign over Turkey. Erdogan’s regime blamed Gulen for an attempted coup on the Turkish government in July 2016.
Imagine being disowned by family for supporting a different political group. Oh, wait…
