Turkish basketball player faces arrest warrant over links with Muslim preacher
ADVERTISEMENTTurkish NBA star Enes Kanter is to skip a New York Knicks visit to London because of fears for his safety. Kanter is wanted by Turkish prosecutors because of his ties with Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen. But the basketball player told Euronews the arrest warrant isn’t justified.
“I visit Mr Gulen once every two or three weeks and every time I go and visit him he always talks about universal peace and the most important thing for him is leave your differences on the table and try and find what we have in common,” he said. “All I’m trying to do, is to play basketball and just because I’m trying to be the voice of all the citizens and talk against the government, the Turkish government calls me a terrorist.”
The 26-year-old is an outspoken critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his human rights record. He says he would like to speak to US President Donald Trump to discuss human rights in Turkey.