Later this month, the New York Knicks will square off against the Washington Wizards at The O2 Arena in London. However, Knicks center Enes Kanter said he won't be playing for the team in said game because of his feud with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan:
Enes Kanter isn't going to London with the Knicks when they play there Jan. 17 against the Wizards because "of that freaking lunatic, the Turkish president." Says he thinks he can get killed there if he goes.
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) January 5, 2019
Kanter provided a detailed explanation to Mark Berman of the NY Post, shortly after the Knicks defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 119-112:
“I talked to the front office. I’m not going. I’m going to stay here and practice. It’s pretty sad. All this stuff affects my career in basketball. I want to help my team win, but because of one lunatic guy I can’t even go there to do my job. It’s pretty sad. They got a lot of spies there. I can get killed pretty easy.”
Kanter has been a vocal critic of Erdogan and Turkey's authoritarian government. In September 2018, he told stories about the abuses he and his family and friends suffered under the Turkish leader's regime in a letter he wrote, which was posted at Time:.
“If you speak against Erdogan, it can affect you and everyone around you. It has been too dangerous for me to set foot in Turkey for three years. The last time I visited, the government destroyed my brothers’ school and threw my dentist and his wife in prison. The regime arrested and charged a man for links to Gulen after I took a picture with his child, and went after a comedian after he exchanged a few tweets with me. Last year, Erdogan canceled my passport and put out an international warrant for my arrest. That means I am now stateless and pretty much can’t leave the United States. It’s interfering with my career, too.”
Enes Kanter will rejoin the Knicks when they come back stateside after the London game.
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