The father of New York Knicks center Enes Kanter has been sentenced to 15 years of prison in his native Turkey after an order for his arrest was issued, according to Yaron Weitzman of Bleacher Report. The big man learned of the news this morning.
“The Turkish government has sentenced Enes Kanter's father to 15 years in prison. An arrest warrant for Dr. Mehmet Kanter has now been issued, and he's likely to be brought into custody when he returns to his home in Istanbul. Enes, who learned the news this morning via multiple Turkish media reports, believes this is the government's way of attacking and punishing him for being an outspoken critic of Turkish president Recep Erdogan. Enes has not spoken with his father or his family. He said he worries that doing so could put them in danger.”
Kanter has been outspoken about his displeasure with the current Turkish presidential regime and openly opposed Erdogan, which has costed him over the years.
The Turkish-born 6-foot-11 big man was stopped at a Romanian airport last offseason and had his travel VISA rescinded, keeping him from reaching his destination. After a few hours, he was allowed to proceed with his travels, later urging his intent to become an American citizen.
Kanter has said in multiple occasions that he's viewed as the “black sheep” of Turkish athletes playing overseas, when the likes of Ersan Ilyasova, who is relatively mum about politics, gets the lion's share of the praise.
Despite his father's arrest warrant, Kanter maintains his same position.
“No matter what happens,' will continue to keep fighting for human rights and freedom of speech, justice and democracy above all,” Kanter said in a statement to Bleacher Report. “I will stand for what I believe in. All I'm doing is trying to be the voice of all those innocent people.”
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