Mediaboss Marketing

Enes Kanter is reportedly the subject of an arrest warrant issued Friday by Turkey, his home nation. The Oklahoma City Thunder center has been an outspoken critic of Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdogan, and he recently expressed gratitude at being back in the U.S., after he was detained on an overseas trip when the country revoked his passport.

According to AFP, Sabah Daily, a Turkish newspaper described as pro-government, reported that Kanter is being accused of membership in a terror group. Kanter, 25, has expressed support forFethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania and who Erdogan blamed for a failed coup attempt last year.

In the aftermath of that attempt in July, with which Gulen denied any involvement and condemned, Erdogans regime swiftly carried out a violent crackdown. Hundreds of Turks were killed, and thousands more were rounded up on suspicions of having links to the coup attempt. Kanter, among others, has alleged it was really a plot by Erdogan to enable him to strike at his political enemies and establish a more authoritarian rule over Turkey.

[Turkey condemns U.S. over aggressive acts against Erdogans guards during D.C. visit]

You guys need to know what is going on in Turkey right now. I hope people around the world will open their eyes to the human rights abuses, Kanter wrote this week in an essay for The Players Tribune. Things have gotten very bad over the last year. This is not my opinion. We dont know everything that is happening inside Turkey, but we do know some facts. Newspapers and media have been restricted. Academics have been fired. Peaceful protesting is not allowed. Many people have been imprisoned without any real charges. There are reports of torture and rape and worse.

On Friday, Kanter posted to Twitter an image of the Sabah story, adding a caption in Turkish that said (per AFPs translation), You cannot catch me. Hahaha. Dont waste your energy.

I am already going to come to [Turkey] to spit on all of your ugly, hate-filled faces.

From the AFP report:

A judge issued the arrest warrant after an Istanbul prosecutor opened an investigation into Kanters alleged membership of an armed terrorist organization, Sabah Daily reported.

The arrest warrant refers to Kanters alleged use of an encrypted messaging application called Bylock, Sabah said, which Turkey claims was especially created for Gulen supporters.

It also referred to Kanters praise for a terror organization in messages via his social media accounts, the daily reported.

Sabah also reported that the prosecutor had applied for an Interpol notice, one that would alert the 190 countries with membership in the global policing organization that Turkey was seeking Kanters deportation.

On Saturday, Kanter posted a video from the Romanian airport, claiming he was unable to travel any further becauseof his political views and calling Erdogan the Hitler of our century. With help from the Thunder, the Department of Homeland Security and both Oklahoma senators, he was able to travel to London and then on to New York, where he held a news conference Monday detailing his scary experience.

It was scary because there was a chance they might send me back to Turkey, Kanter told reporters. And if they send me back to Turkey, probably you guys wouldnt hear a word from me the second day. It would have definitely gotten really ugly.

Kanter has a green card for the United States, but he said Monday that he was country-less and open to adoption by the nation where he first arrived in 2009 to play one year at a prep school. Kanter committed to Kentucky but was ruled ineligible by the NCAA because he had previously been paid to play for a top Turkish squad; he was drafted by the Jazz in 2011 and traded to the Thunder in 2015.

[LeBron James passes Michael Jordan as NBAs all-time playoff scoring leader]

I want you guys to think about what the Turkish government means when they say that I am a dangerous man, Kanter said in his essay. Ive never broken any laws. No speeding tickets, nothing. But Im dangerous? Why?

I speak my mind about things that I believe in, he wrote. I always have. I share my thoughts on Twitter and Facebook about the terrible things that are being done to people in Turkey. I want the whole world to know about the human rights abuses that are going on there.

To the Erdogan government, this makes me a dangerous man.

Read the original:
Enes Kanter reportedly subject of arrest warrant by Turkey - Washington Post