The ‘Enes Kanter Turkey controversy’ has seen many revelations from the Celtics man, with the recent one on how Turkish players avoid him.
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Swiss-born Enes Kanter is a native of Turkey as his parents are from Turkey. Kanter has raised his voice against the unjust rule by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has taken an authoritarian hold of Turkey since a failed coup attempt in 2016.
Kanter’s stand aginst Turkish President has caused him several problems. He has now revealed that he is being ignored by his fellow Turkish origin NBA players too, amongst various other hardships that he has had to face.
Why other Turkish Players ignore Enes Kanter?
The main reason behind Turkish origin player in NBA ignoring Enes is the fear of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The big man said that the players feel that talking to him or supporting him can put their families in danger as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is capable of doing that in his native country.
Enes Kanter on Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum: “When they go at each other, it’s one of the most fun matchups I’ve ever watched … They compete and they push each other in practice, and that’s what makes them so good.”
(via The Bill Simmons Podcast) pic.twitter.com/Hs8MF7WEHw
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) July 17, 2020
The same has been done with Enes Kanter as his father was put in jail for the comments that Enes has made on Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Enes Kanter Turkey controversy
Kanter supports Gulen, who tried a coup to oust current President Erdogan. This is the major reason why the current Turkish regime is after Kanter’s life and he has been forced to take refuge in the US.
Ever since Kanter’s support for Gulen has been known, Erdogan has made it a point to harass Kanter’s family. And that is where Kanter’s statements about the horrific Turkish regime stem from.
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What Enes feels regarding the ignorance he faces
Kanter on Bill Simmions Podcast said that “What hurts me the most is other Turkish players, we have Ersan Ilysova, we have Cedi Osman in Cleveland, we have Furkman Korkmaz in Philly. Whenever we go against them, they don’t say a word. I actually try to talk to them. I’m like, ‘Hey, dude, what’s up? How you doin?’ No answer. Because they might be scared of the Turkish government, if they see a video or picture of us talking or something, they might be in trouble or whatever”.
Enes explained that talking to Turkish players in NBA is not easy as he further added: “ I actually cover my mouth with my jersey and try to talk to them, and they face the other way.”
Extent of Enes Kanter’s problems
The Turkish government has banned Enes’s passport and has got multiple death threats from anonymous sources. The government has also taken steps to censor Kanter and his family.
Enes feels that his life might end if he ever leaves America though still, he continues to raise voice against the unjust that his fellow natives are facing.
Enes Kanter has faced a lot for his stand against the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, yet his fellow countrymen are not supporting him in his fight for the justice that Turkish citizens should have.
