HRF Blog post
HRF Blog post
Blog Post
Jan 16, 2019

Enes Kanter: Anyone who speaks out against Erdogan is a target. That includes me.

тАЬKeep calm and play ball.тАЭ ThatтАЩs what some people tell me when I use my National Basketball Association platform to speak out against Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, the place I grew up and where my family still lives. The advice I prefer comes from Colin KaepernickтАЩs Nike ad campaign: тАЬBelieve in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.тАЭ

On Thursday, I wonтАЩt be able to go to work when my team, the New York Knicks, plays the Washington Wizards in London. It is altogether too risky. Erdogan uses Interpol, the international law enforcement organization with 194 member nations, as a tool to have his critics arrested in other countries. I do not yet have U.S. citizenship or a U.S. passport, which could offer me protection, so I canтАЩt risk traveling overseas.

Even if I did, I wouldnтАЩt travel this week to Britain, where I easily could be kidnapped or killed by Turkish agents. ErdoganтАЩs arms are long. He hunts down anyone who opposes him. In 2017, his security team тАФ or thugs, as The PostтАЩs editorial board described them тАФ even beat up peaceful protesters outside the Turkish ambassadorтАЩs residence in Washington.

 

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