Turkey Issues Arrest Warrant For Enes Kanter

[RealGM Wiretap]

Turkey has issued an arrest warrant for Enes Kanter, accusing him of being a member of a "terror group."

A judge issued the arrest warrant after an Istanbul prosecutor opened an investigation into Kanter's alleged "membership of an armed terrorist organisation", Sabah daily reported.

Kanter previously backed Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen in Twitter postings after an attempted putsch last July aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Kanter has compared Erdogan to Adolf Hitler and was detained in Romania at the weekend after being informed that his Turkish passport had been cancelled

Via AFP

[Mannchild]

Very cleaver way to try and get out of his contract Presti...

[TimRobbins]

Turkey has become a pretty dark dictatorship. Arrest warrant? Seriously?

[basketballwacko2]

I find it hard to believe that Kanter would be a part of a terrorist group. He should apply to the state dept for political asylum and keep his butt in the USA or he might get kidnapped.

[Reeko]

Not looking good for Kanter. US and Turkey have an extradition treaty in place.

[contract]

I find it hard to believe that Kanter would be a part of a terrorist group. He should apply to the state dept for political asylum and keep his butt in the USA or he might get kidnapped.

Turkey is an "ally" and a NATO member. There is zero chance that we grant him asylum.

[Falstaff]

Erdogan is an opportunistic dictator making a power grab. He's accusing political rivals of "terrorism" as a tactic to remove dissent and build international support from those who care more about appearing to fight terror than upholding human rights and the democratic process. Kanter is just his latest target.

[ChokeFasncists]

Not looking good for Kanter. US and Turkey have an extradition treaty in place.

They aren't extraditing Gulen tho

[the_process]

I find it hard to believe that Kanter would be a part of a terrorist group. He should apply to the state dept for political asylum and keep his butt in the USA or he might get kidnapped.

Turkey is an "ally" and a NATO member. There is zero chance that we grant him asylum.

Canada or Mexico might, however.

[Sam195]

Very cleaver way to try and get out of his contract Presti...

That is a tough call - since he wasn't charged for anything in the U.S which has the laws that govern the nba. It is extremely hard to void a contract if a player committed a crime even in the U.S for any league. The Player would have to face guaranteed jail time or deportation (if there not a U.S citizen) that would cause an inability for them to be present and participate in the regular season and playoff games they are paid under contract for. Even the Gilbert Arenas Gun Debacle which seems a lot worse than this Kanter situation only lead to a season long suspension while Gilbert spent time in a halfway house, had to do community service and complete a government mandated firearms safety course I believe. The Wizards couldn't void his deal but some how suckered the magic to flip Rashard Lewis' shorter contract for Arenas which they eventually had to amnesty - paying him in full because the luxury tax payments that his cap hit triggered were greater than just paying him off. NBA also has a pretty strong union that will go full fire if OKC attempted to pursue this route. The only time I think a player got his contract voided was when the Celtics got out of Vin Baker's deal cause he had serious alcoholism issues that prevented him to even be in proper physical condition as an nba player. Celtics had also paid for him to take a leave of absence from the team to attend rehab but he still relapsed on more than one occasion. An nba player's job is to be in proper physical condition to honor their contract - regardless if they are greatly overpaid due to injury or declining production.

[malgus]

Trump will hand him over. He was real buddy buddy with Ergodan in their recent meeting praising him repeatedly.

[TKainZero]

People may complain about the political climate here in the USA, but it's stories like this that remind us how dam good we have it here in the USA.

[mesomorph]

Erdogan is an opportunistic dictator making a power grab. He's accusing political rivals of "terrorism" as a tactic to remove dissent and build international support from those who care more about appearing to fight terror than upholding human rights and the democratic process. Kanter is just his latest target.

Imagine a members of religious cult, based on their own selfish reasons would organize military coup in america, in order to take over your country using brute force.
Imagine this coup would be unsuccessful, and after the event, someone would start publicly supporting this cult members and using social media would call your president "hitler of our century".
Would this person be considered as a good guy who just use his freedom of speech in order to raise awareness?
Kanter is part of gulen movement, which is considered terorrist organization. And he is that person, who completely support gulen cult, which organized military coup in Turkey.
Btw, you want it or not but Erdogan was democratically elected to be president by people of Turkey. He have all the right to accuse kanter being terrorist supporter.
You cant organize to take over a country using brute force.

[HotelVitale]

People may complain about the political climate here in the USA, but it's stories like this that remind us how dam good we have it here in the USA.

True but that's usually the case only in less prosperous countries. We have way more social inequality and needless drama than most established and well-developed countries.

Btw, you want it or not but Erdogan was democratically elected to be president by people of Turkey. He have all the right to accuse kanter being terrorist supporter.

It's significantly more complicated than this. First of all, there's zero evidence that the coup was staged by Gulen. The US state dept refuses to acknowledge that it was (hence they haven't extradited Gulen), as does the German and British governments and everyone in Europe who's paid attention ot it, and the only evidence Turkey has provided is 'trust us, it was them.' It was also a fairly pathetic coup attempt--which is strange for a very patient group that's been building slowly for decades, and also happens to work massively in Erdogan's favor. That leads to the second point, which is that Erdogan's referendum passed through an apparent election process, but it's extremely undemocratic--he basically rewrote the constitution to eliminate the legislative branch and remove any checks and balances on his power. And he's also arrested tens of thousands of people who disagreed with him, including a couple hundred thousand whom he said were involved in this coup.

I don't have any insider info on Turkish politics, but it seems like you're being a little naive about the situation if you think he's just a regular politician that was attacked unfairly by this Gulen dude. (Also, Hitler came to power through more-or-less legal means--surely you don't believe that anything that happens through voting should be allowed to go unchecked?)

[TimRobbins]

Not looking good for Kanter. US and Turkey have an extradition treaty in place.

The extradition treaty only applies to something that would be a criminal offense in the US. Being rude to the Turkish dictator is not something the US can extradite for.

[the_process]

People may complain about the political climate here in the USA, but it's stories like this that remind us how damn good we have it here in the USA.

True but that's usually the case only in less prosperous countries. We have way more social inequality and needless drama than most established and well-developed countries.

Most of those "established and well-developed countries" you are referring to do not have the melting pot of races and cultures the US does. It's not an excuse, it's simply a fact that the more differences people have, the harder it is to have them find a common ground.

[baldur]

Erdogan being anti - democratic, anti-secular, evil doesn't make enes purely good automatically. In fact, they were partners in crime not long ago. Then sharing the power became an issue and eventually last year a bloody military coup was organised by gulenists which caused 250 deaths across the country. So enes is not the innocent side in this story because they are both evil sides actually. Enes would be considered a traitor in the usa after a similar series of event.

[kakashi]

Most of those "established and well-developed countries" you are referring to do not have the melting pot of races and cultures the US does. It's not an excuse, it's simply a fact that the more differences people have, the harder it is to have them find a common ground.

I disagree with that completely, being in Toronto every race and culture is represented here and we get along fine. It's the environment you're raised in. Fear and hatred perpetuates fearfulness and hate. Acceptance, understanding and proper education does the opposite.

[Nutty Nats Fan]

Not looking good for Kanter. US and Turkey have an extradition treaty in place.

The extradition treaty only applies to something that would be a criminal offense in the US. Being rude to the Turkish dictator is not something the US can extradite for.

Plus the Turkish dictator's goon have attacked US citizens on US soil. That should be considered an act of war. So F' the emo Turkish dictator. Although we unfortunately have am emo wannabe dictator, who seems cool with what happened.

[Nutty Nats Fan]

Erdogan being anti - democratic, anti-secular, evil doesn't make enes purely good automatically. In fact, they were partners in crime not long ago. Then sharing the power became an issue and eventually last year a bloody military coup was organised by gulenists which caused 250 deaths across the country. So enes is not the innocent side in this story because they are both evil sides actually. Enes would be considered a traitor in the usa after a similar series of event.

Actually, if this happened in the US, Erdogan would be considered the traitor. Those fighting against him to uphold the constitution would be the patriots. While it is sad 250 died in the failed coup, more will die (I'd guess more have already died) at the hands of Erdogan.