The Turkish government has issued an arrest warrant for Enes Kanter, accusing the OKC Thunder center of being a member of a terrorist group.
Last week, Kanter’s passport was revoked by the Turkish embassy and he was denied entry into Romania. At the time, the 25-year-old said his religious views were the cause. Kanter has been vocal in his support of Fethullah Gulen and the “Gulen Movement.” The president of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan, blames the group and their supporters for an attempted military coup last year. Gulen has denied claims of any involvement with the coup. Kanter has spent the last 15 years in exile. Kanter’s social media pages are also blocked in Turkey.
According to ESPN, the arrest warrant “refers to Kanter’s alleged use of an encrypted messaging application called Bylock, Sabah said, which Turkey claims was especially created for Gulen supporters.”
Kanter, who referred to Erdogan as the “Hitler of this century” last week, is now working on becoming an American citizen. “Right now I am country-less,” Kanter said at the National Basketball Players Association headquarters in Manhattan. “I am open to adoption definitely. I am going to try to become an American citizen.”
Kanter has addressed the arrest warrant on Twitter, mocking news articles about it. “You cannot catch me. Hahaha. Don’t waste your energy … I am already going to come to [Turkey] to spit on all of your ugly, hate-filled faces,” his tweet (loosely translated) read.
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