ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Enes Kanter, a native of Turkey who plays professional basketball for the New York Knicks, has announced that he will not travel to London this month because he fears the Turkish government.
“It’s pretty sad that all this stuff affects my career and basketball because I want to be out there and help my teammates but just because of that one lunatic guy, one maniac, one dictator I can’t go out there and just do my job,” he told reporters on Friday.
Kanter, 26, has been a vocal critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling him "the Hitler of our century."
He was asked he believes he could be killed if he went to the United Kingdom, he replied: “Oh yeah, easy. They’ve got a lot of spies there. I think I can get killed there very easy. It would be a very ugly situation.”
Kanter is a supporter of cleric Fethullah Gulen who lives in the United States and Ankara blames for the failed 2016 military coup.
Mehmet Canter, Enes' father, was indicted last year with "membership in a terror group." He also lost his job as a professor despite disavowing his son and own beliefs.
“But anywhere outside America would be very dangerous,” he said.
The Knicks play the Washington Wizards on January 17 in the international game.
The Knicks later said Kanter will not play because of visa issues.
“I talked to the front office and sadly I’m not going because of that freaking lunatic, the Turkish president,” he said. “There’s a chance I can get killed out there. That’s why I talked to the front office, and I’m not going so I’m just going to stay here and just practice here.”
“It’s pretty sad that all this stuff affects my career and basketball because I want to be out there and help my teammates but just because of that one lunatic guy, one maniac, one dictator I can’t go out there and just do my job,” he told reporters on Friday.
Kanter, 26, has been a vocal critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling him "the Hitler of our century."
He was asked he believes he could be killed if he went to the United Kingdom, he replied: “Oh yeah, easy. They’ve got a lot of spies there. I think I can get killed there very easy. It would be a very ugly situation.”
Kanter is a supporter of cleric Fethullah Gulen who lives in the United States and Ankara blames for the failed 2016 military coup.
Mehmet Canter, Enes' father, was indicted last year with "membership in a terror group." He also lost his job as a professor despite disavowing his son and own beliefs.
Kanter expressed that he feels safe in the United States.
“But anywhere outside America would be very dangerous,” he said.
The Knicks play the Washington Wizards on January 17 in the international game.
The Knicks later said Kanter will not play because of visa issues.
“I talked to the front office and sadly I’m not going because of that freaking lunatic, the Turkish president,” he said. “There’s a chance I can get killed out there. That’s why I talked to the front office, and I’m not going so I’m just going to stay here and just practice here.”
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