Enes Kanter Freedom has been an outspoken critic of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authoritarian regime in Turkey for numerous years now. The Turkish state has decided to deal with the former NBA player.
Kanter Freedom has been marked as a member of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization/Parallel State Structure and is officially wanted by the Turkish government. He’s been placed on the Grey list of the Turkish Interior Ministry’s ‘Terrorist Wanted List’.
“That makes it so dangerous,” the player told The New York Post. “Before the bounty, Turkish intelligence was after the people on the list, but now everyone is after them because they want the money.”
Up to 10 million Turkish liras (~€490,000) are promised as a reward for those who give information that leads to the capture of a wanted person.
Turkey canceled Kanter’s passport in 2017 and tried to deport him from Romania. He has since become a US citizen and has been living in exile.
“I’m not the only one. There are so many innocent journalists, academics, athletes, activists, and educators on this list. Now their lives are in danger because of the Turkish government,” Kanter Freedom told Turkish Minute.
After a coup attempt in 2016, Erdogan has cracked down on his critics. Another professional athlete on the same list is footballer Hakan Sukur. Like the vast majority of Erdogan’s critics, he is also marked as a terrorist.
An incident involving Sukur happened not so long ago. Following an early goal by Morocco in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Turkish commentator Alper Bakırcıgil mentioned that Sukur has scored the quickest goal in FIFA World Cup history. The commentator was taken off the air after the first half.
“I hope the world will open its eyes and put an end to Erdogan’s human rights violations,” Kanter Freedom said.
Kanter Freedom is a free agent now and hasn’t been picked up by any NBA team since February of last year. The player doesn’t seem to believe that he can return to the EuroLeague either.
“Don’t forget that I can’t enter Turkey and that Turkish Airlines runs the Euroleague,” he told Walla Sport last summer.
Source : Basket News
