It appears Turkey’s government is after Enes Kanter yet again. The Celtics’ center tweeted a picture of the government’s arrest order put on him for the 10th time in just the past four years.
Kanter previously criticized his home country for violating human rights laws and keeping political prisoners. Just last year, Turkey released his father after nearly seven years behind bars. According to Kanter, his father served the time behind bars simply due to his ties to Kanter.
Kanter already has had his fair share of family issues, as his brother fell victim to an armed robbery just last year.
According to his recent tweet, the Turkish government and dictator Recep Tayyip Erdo?an are after him again.
His issues with Turkey started way back in 2017 when the nation canceled his passport. He risked deportation back to the country, where he most likely would have been held as a political prisoner.
Since then, Kanter has become one of Turkey’s most wanted individuals. In addition to sending out multiple arrest warrants, Turkey even blocks NBA coverage of games with Kanter playing.
All of this is simply due to Kanter speaking out against the government.
While Kanter remains safe in the US, where he currently sits on the Celtics roster, the threat of the Turkish government is very much real.
In 2019, Kanter refused to travel to London for his Knicks’ overseas game. He feared for his life as he believed the Turkish government had spies in the UK.
“The freaking lunatic [Erdogan], there�s a chance I can get killed out there. I talked to the front office. I�m not going. I�m going to stay here and practice. It�s pretty sad. All this stuff affects my career in basketball. I want to help my team win, but because of one lunatic guy I can�t even go there to do my job. It�s pretty sad. They got a lot of spies there. I can get killed pretty easy.”
Enes Kanter
Kanter currently awaits US citizenship as he hopes to disassociate from his home nation’s brutal government regime.
