Thunder’s Enes Kanter says his father has been arrested and faces torture in Turkey


Date posted: June 4, 2017

Matt Bonesteel and Des Bieler

Last month, Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter was briefly detained at the airport in Bucharest, Romania, after the Turkish government tried to pull some shenanigans with his passport. Kanter, a frequent critic of the regime of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, eventually was allowed to leave on a flight to London after he broadcast his plight to the world via Twitter. He eventually made his way back to New York on a green card.

On Friday, Kanter announced that his father has been arrested by the Turkish government and again called Erdogan “the Hitler of our century.” Later in the day, he released a further statement regarding his father’s arrest on his website.

 

Kanter’s relationship with his family reportedly has been strained by his political views. The Thunder big man has long been a supporter of Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based cleric who has been accused by Erdogan of being the mastermind behind a failed, bloody coup attempt last year. Kanter’s family disowned him after he continued his support of the cleric last year, leading the NBA player to informally change his last name to Gulen.

“I apologize to the Turkish people and the president for having such a son,” Mehmet Kanter, Enes’s father, wrote in a pro-government newspaper last summer.

The Turkish government also has issued a warrant for Enes Kanter’s arrest, which ESPN says will prohibit him from traveling internationally. His detention at the Bucharest airport last month happened while he was on a worldwide tour for the Enes Kanter Foundation, which provides meals and clothing to the needy.

After he returned to the U.S., Kanter told reporters that he had been in Indonesia when his manager alerted him that Turkish officials had asked authorities in that country to provide his whereabouts. He hopped on the next flight out of Indonesia, eventually arriving at Bucharest and, with the help of the Thunder, both Oklahoma senators and the U.S. department of Homeland Security, was able to make it to New York.

Of that experience, Kanter told reporters, “It was scary, because there was a chance they might send me back to Turkey. And if they send me back to Turkey, probably you guys wouldn’t hear a word from me the second day. It would have definitely gotten really ugly.”

“My father is arrested because of my outspoken criticism of the ruling party. He may get tortured for simply being my family member,” Kanter said in his statement Friday.

“For a second please think and imagine, if something like this is happening to an NBA player, what is happening to the people with no voice or podium to speak on? There could be hundreds of thousands of people that are detained, tortured, or murdered that we are not hearing about. Freedom of expression is a basic human right, and I ask the WORLD to join me in seeking justice and equality for all and to reject oppressive regimes and dictatorships.”

Source: Washington Post , June 2, 2017


Related News

US House Intel Chair Says ‘Hard To Believe’ Gulen Behind Turkey Coup

The United State House Intelligence Committee chairman has said it is “hard to believe” that U.S.-based Turkish cleric is behind the military coup attempt last summer, questioning Turkey as a reliable ally.

African firms signal increased trade at TUSKON meeting

A total of 127 companies from 11 different countries in East Africa are participating in the Gaziantep summit, which started on Feb. 9 and will run until Feb. 12. The Turkish and African businesspeople held roughly 5,000 bilateral business meetings. TUSKON has intensified efforts to help more Turkish firms branch out into promising African markets over the past five years.

UK acknowledges being a Gülen sympathizer in Turkey may be grounds for asylum

In a 60-page policy guidance to Home Office decision-makers, the UK Home Office has recognized that being a Fethullah Gülen sympathizer in Turkey may be grounds for asylum in the UK.

Council of Europe warns against hate speech by senior state officials in Turkey

The human rights body of the Council of Europe, the Commission against Racism and Intolerance, issued a report on Wednesday about the increasing use of hate speech, even by senior state officials. While President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the Gülen sympathizers “viruses,” Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım labeled them microbes. The movement is the main target of a massive purge and witch-hunt in Turkey.

Turkey’s Crackdown on Businesses Sparks Concern

The Turkish government crackdown that followed the failed July coup is expanding to businesses, with the assets of major multibillion-dollar conglomerates seized, along with hundreds of smaller companies.

Gülen offers condolences for police officer, resident

Gülen said in a statement on Friday that Turkey’s “atmosphere is being spoiled with rancor and hatred” and that the country needs a nationwide return to common sense and security above all else.

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Cihan TV network celebrates 10th birthday

Graduation ceremony of Turkish School in Kenya

People Of All Faiths Come Together For The Library’s Muslim Journeys

Kimse Yok Mu provides TL 11 million aid to Palestine

Why would Gulen choose to attempt a coup that’s contrary to all his views?

Former US Ambassador Ricciardone: Hizmet members not terrorists

Anatolia in Los Angeles

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News