Enes Kanter has had a rough two weeks. The Oklahoma City Thunder star was on a charity trip to less fortunate countries when he was detained in Romania. Kanter learned that the Turkish Government had canceled his passport and Romania was considering deporting him back to Turkey. It is a good thing that that never happened. ESPN reported today that the Turkish government has issued an arrest warrant for Enes Kanter, claiming that the Thunder star is part of a "terror group."
Turkish government's claims against Enes Kanter
The Turkish government has a strong dislike for Enes Kanter because the Oklahoma City Thunder star has used his platform to speak out against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He even called the president the closest thing the world has right now to Adolf Hitler. Kanter does support Fethullah Gulen and the "Gulen Movement," a group that wants to overthrow the current Turkish government.
Gulen was ostracized from Turkey and currently lives in the United States as well. Because of a failed military coup in 2016, Turkey blamed the entire coup on Gulen and his supporters. Because Enes Kanter is a supporter, the Turkish government labeled him as part of a "terror group."
One of the things that the Turkish government has pointed out was that Kanter used an encrypted app called Bylock, which they say is used by Gulen supporters. Because Enes uses this, the Turkish government have been allegedly hunting him down.
Enes Kanter said that his manager woke him up in the middle of the night while he was in Indonesia because the Indonesian "secret service and army" were looking for him, calling him a dangerous man. Despite this, Kanter has tried to keep a level head and even posted a tweet about his arrest warrant in a mocking manner.
Enes Kanter and the United States
Enes Kanter was lucky because forces in the United States worked with Romania and got Kanter sent to London and then safely returned to America. Once he returned, Kanter told reporters what happened and then stated that he wished to become an American citizen, saying that at this time he is a man without a country.
The Oklahoma City Thunder star is safely in America with a green card that allows him to work as an NBA superstar. However, Enes Kanter said that he gets numerous death threats because of his political views and his own family has disowned him. His father actually asked Enes to change his last name. Kanter said he has considered the last name "Gulen."
