Oklahoma City Thunder power forward/center Enes Kanter is being detained in Romania after his passport was “canceled” by the embassy of his native Turkey on Saturday morning, he said in a video posted to Twitter.
“They've been holding us here for hours by these two police(men),” said Kanter in the video update from his international trip. “The reason, of course, are my political views and the guy who did it is Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey… and you guys know, he's attacked people in Washington, he's a bad, bad man. He's a dictator and the Hitler of our century.”
I'm being held at Romanian airport by Police!! pic.twitter.com/uYZMBqKx54
— Enes Kanter (@Enes_Kanter) May 20, 2017
Kanter has been critically outspoken of the Turkish regime, even considering changing his last name after his family disowned him because of his political beliefs and idolatry of Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic leader and the face of the “Gulen Movement.”
He even posted a letter on a Turkish newspaper last year, relating what had happened with his family, per ESPN.
“Today I lost my mother, father, brothers and sisters, my family and all my relatives,” Enes Kanter wrote in the letter, which was translated to English. “My own father asked me to change my surname. My mother, who has given me life, disowned me. My brothers and sisters, with which we have grown together, ignore me.”
The big man also received two death threats last year after a bombing took place in Turkey's capital, Ankara, stemming from a failed military coup to overthrow Erdogan.
In June 2015, Kanter noted he was left off of the Turkish national team for Eurobasket 2015 because of his political views. Head coach Ergin Ataman claimed the decision was not political.
Enes Kanter, whose birthday happens to be today, claimed he would keep his followers updated as this issue develops. The Thunder organization is aware of the situation and actively looking into this matter.
#FreeEnes pic.twitter.com/y07aGwVRIS
— Enes Kanter (@Enes_Kanter) May 20, 2017
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