OKC Thunder Center Enes Kanter Detained At Romanian Airport After His Passport Revoked By Turkey

Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter, who has been an outspoken critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is currently being detained in Romania after the country reportedly revoked his passport.

Here is Kanter explaining his situation on social media.

“What’s up, world? Just wanted to say we are in Romania, and they said they canceled my passport by Turkish embassy. You know, they been holding us here for hours by these two police. [Kanter rotates his camera towards the officers]

You know, because the reason behind it is just of course my political views, and the guy who did it is, you know, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey … he’s attacked people in Washington. He’s a bad, bad man. He’s a dictator, and he’s the Hitler of our century. So I will keep you posted, guys, but just pray for us, and I’ll tell you guys what’s going on. Appreciate it.”

Kanter has a history of opposition against Erdogan and has been disowned by his family for supporting the Turkish President’s rival.

The Daily Oklahoman

In August of 2016, Kanter was disowned by his family, which still lives in Turkey. The Daily Sabah, cited as a “supportive voice” of Erdogan’s party, quoted Kanter’s father, Mehmet, as saying he disowned his son for his affiliation with the Gulen Movement. Fethullah Gulen is an Islamic leader who has been in exile in Pennsylvania for more than 15 years who is in direct opposition to Erdogan and his reign over Turkey. Erdogan’s regime blamed Gulen for an attempted coup on the Turkish government in July 2016.

Jorge Alonso BroBible avatar
Brobible sports editor. Jorge is a Miami native and lifelong Heat fan. He has been covering the NBA, MLB and NFL professionally for almost 10 years, specializing in digital media.