Enes Kanter has been accused of belonging to a “terror group” by Turkish officials and the country has issued an arrest warrant for the NBA big man, Yahoo News relays.
Kanter previously backed Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen via Twitter hoping the effort would help to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey claims that Gulen ordered the movement, though he denies the claim.
The warrant was issued after an Istanbul prosecutor started an investigating whether or not Kanter belongs to “an armed terrorist organization.” The arrest warrant references Kanter’s alleged use of an encrypted messaging app, Bylock, which Turkey believes was created for Gulen supporters.
Kanter was detained in Romania last weekend after being informed that Turkey had canceled his passport. He has previously been critical of the country’s president, comparing him to Adolf Hitler. The center believes his passport’s status was a result of his criticism and he told U.S. reporters earlier in the week that he hoped to gain American citizenship.
whoa.
This stuff really shows just how relatively unimportant NBA transactions really are. I mean, this guy could go to prison for speaking out against the leader of his country. I have a bad feeling that our current president will not be as righteous when it comes to hurrying Kanter’s citizenship along.
If anyone heard the story on nba radio last week, you know this whole thing is a crazy situation.
Its hard to believe that a lot of countries can still arrest you for such things.
If the USA didn’t have free speech half of the commenters on this app would be in prison..
Geez, I feel bad for the guy. Hey, Turkey, you guys are bums!!!!! There, suck it, Turkey!