While Knicks center Enes Kanter remains the subject of trade rumors this week, his non-basketball future remains far more complicated than his future on the court. According to a report out of Kanter’s home country of Turkey, relayed by The Associated Press, Turkish prosecutors are seeking an international arrest warrant for Kanter, accusing him of membership in a terror organization and looking to extradite him.
According to a report from Turkish newspaper Sabah (via The AP), prosecutors are “citing Kanter’s ties” to Fethullah Gulen, the group blamed for a failed coup in 2016. Those prosecutors are also accusing him of providing financial support to Fethullah Gulen.
Turkey, which previously revoked Kanter’s passport, is allegedly seeking a “red notice” for the Knicks center. A red notice represents an Interpol request to “locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition,” per a Reuters report.
Kanter has been vocal about speaking out against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which has forced family members still living in Turkey to disown him.
Kanter is currently not traveling with the Knicks on their trip to London due to concerns about his safety. He wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post this week explaining his situation.
“Anyone who speaks out against him is a target,” Kanter wrote of Erdogan. “I am definitely a target. And Erdogan wants me back in Turkey where he can silence me.
“My decision not to travel to London was difficult from a competitive standpoint but much easier from a safety one. It helps puts a spotlight on how a dictator is wrecking Turkey — people have been killed, thousands are unjustly imprisoned, and countless lives have been ruined. That is no game.”
Kanter’s father was sentenced to 15 years in prison last year for basically being Enes’s father and being critical of Erdogan. Given what has happened recently with Erdogan easily getting what he asked for from Individual-1 he should be afraid that Individual-1 will again give Erdogan what he wants and extradite him.
I’m glad he is taking a stand for what he believes in. He’s not getting paid for skipping the game.
I wonder if other athletes would skip game checks for a cause.
Not only is it a cause, it is also his life. The Turks are more than capable of unspeakable acts, racial holocaust and mass killing. Ask the Armenians or Kurds. In 1915 they killed 1.5 million Armenians in Mass genocide and to this very day DENY it ever happened.
Preach it brother!