Enes Kanter, the 6-foot-11 Turkish center for the Oklahoma City Thunder, has become an increasingly political and polarizing figure in the NBA. Now, he is pushing back against Turkey’s authoritarian regime stronger than ever.
VICE News invited Kanter for dinner during Ramadan to discuss Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his methods for silencing his opposition. Over the last year, the Turkish government has imprisoned over 100,000 people — many of whom are peaceful protestors and journalists — under Erdoğan’s rule. According to The Atlantic, the country also hosts roughly half of the world’s jailed journalists.
Kanter is using his fame and reach to push back against his country’s president. While traveling abroad, the Turkish government cancelled Kanter’s turkish passport, leaving him stranded in Romania. A few days later, the Turkish media (controlled and filtered by Erdoğan’s government) had reported that there was a warrant for Kanter’s arrest, accusing him of being part of a terror group.
"They either want to make me stop talking, or they want me to go back to Turkey and they will free my dad and arrest me." –@Enes_Kanter pic.twitter.com/Ad1ZtRZvt9
— Bob Ley (@BobLeyESPN) June 6, 2017
I reported on Turkey and Erdoğan for ten weeks leading up to the country’s recent election. Before the time of Erdoğan, Turkey was a democracy. Now, Erdoğan has seized the government and brought sweeping reforms that vastly expanded his powers, allowing him to potentially stay in office until 2029. Moreover, he has silenced secular voices and tried wiping out the Kurdish people.
-Hundreds of thousands of Turks have been fired,detained,tens of thousands have been jailed and tortured@HuffPost https://t.co/iUSpDnqy8h
— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) June 14, 2017
Today, President Trump is making Erdoğan an ally of his administration. During Erdoğan’s recent visit to the White House in May, Erdoğan’s security detail charged and attacked peaceful protestors just a block from the White House. These ten men choked, kicked, and beat American citizens — yet none of them were charged. (You can read the full story here, with video.)
Check out the VICE News segment and let’s discuss respectfully in the comments below.
Crazy what’s been happening with him and Turkey in general. Not sure if it’s just his accent or something, but his tone is so calm talking about it all, especially in the snapchats when he was straight up on the run. Honestly hope he builds on his NBA success, and uses his prominence to keep putting a bigger spotlight on what goes on in Turkey.
I hope so too — I knew about what was happening because I was covering Turkey but few people knew or cared. I thought that was sad because America claims to be this Democratic haven — the U.S. government extends its reach all over the world in the name of democracy, so why not do something about this?
a real hero, hats off dear Enes. That’s the right use of fame.
Ok it begs the question, why is turkey in NATO again? Isnt NATOs founding purpose to stop expanding eastern authoritarian dictatorships.
And secondly don’t be so quick to praise Kanter. While Endrogan is terrible, Kanter himself is an out and out gulenist after all. And if they had their way they’d turn turkey into a “Islamic Republic” aka an Islamic theocratic dictatorship just like Iran.
The US needs Turkey in NATO because of the huge base at Ankara. And I didn’t praise Kanter’s views, just the fact that he is willing to speak up in the face of such a cruel and terrifying government.
Yup was rhetorical, Endrogan aint the 1st Authoritarian that the US government has shack up with in exchange for bases. Looking at you Saudi Arabia.
Yes of course you don’t condone his gulenist veiws. To many peeps have given Kanter full support without considering that gulanists might be even worse then Endrogan.
I don’t see how the gulenist movement could be worse than Erdogan…