Yahoo Finance Enes Kanter says his father's been released from Turkish prison: 'I could cry'
Enes Kanter announced on Friday that his father, Mehmet Kanter, has been released from a Turkish prison after seven years.
The Boston Celtics center who grew up in Turkey after being born in Switzerland once played for the Turkish National Team. Since 2013, Kanter has spoken out against Turkish dictator and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling him “the Hitler of our century” in 2017.
He believes that his father was imprisoned because of his relationship with him.
‘My dad has been released!’
1) Wow!
I could cry
Today I found out that 7 years after arresting my dad, taking him through a Kangaroo court and accusing him of being a criminal just because he is my dad.
MY DAD HAS BEEN RELEASED!
This is due to the pressure we have put on the Turkish regime.— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) June 19, 2020
Kanter acknowledged his followers for help raising political awareness and urged them to keep the pressure on for the “tens of thousands of people wrongfully in jail in Turkey.”
2) They no longer could keep him from his freedom because of the spotlight that we all put on this case!
However! He is just one person, there are still tens of thousands of people wrongfully in jail in Turkey.
I will not forget you, we will not forget you!— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) June 19, 2020
3) This proves that the voice of the people will always push Dictators to do the right thing in the end.
Don't be scared to stand for what is right, always and always,
Stand for FREEDOM
Stand for DEMOCRACY
Stand for HUMAN RIGHTS— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) June 19, 2020
Kanter had refused to leave the United States
Kanter claims no country as he seeks American citizenship. He’ll be eligible for U.S. citizenship in 2021. The eight-year NBA veteran had declined to travel to Canada for road games against the Toronto Raptors out of fear that he would lose the protections he’s granted in the United States and be arrested and deported to Turkey.
Kanter traveled to Toronto for the Celtics’ game against the Raptors last Christmas and wrote an opinion piece for the Globe and Mail thanking the Canadian government for ensuring his safety as Turkey’s government continued to seek his arrest.
Kanter says he’s still being harassed
Kanter’s father had faced a 15-year prison sentence for his association with Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish scholar and Islamic cleric accused of staging a failed coup against the Erdogan regime in 2016. Kanter is an outspoken supporter of Gulen and fears his own imprisonment and potential death at the hands of the Turkish government.
In October he tweeted video from outside a Boston mosque alongside teammate Tacko Fall claiming that Erdogan ‘thugs attacked and threatened me.”
Hello Everyone!#DictatorErdogan @RTErdogan thugs attacked and threatened me today after Friday prayer in Boston at a mosque
Turkish Government don't even let me practice my religion freely in America let alone my freedom of speech is under attack@FBI@FBIBoston@bostonpolice pic.twitter.com/FH2Ixe6QcY— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) October 4, 2019
Kanter is in his first season with the Celtics and is slated to resume playing when the NBA season restarts at Disney World.
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