Romania’s foreign minister defends decision to detain Enes Kanter
Earlier this week, Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter took to Twitter with a video in which he claimed his passport had been cancelled by the Turkish embassy.
In the video, Kanter suggested his political views — specifically, his criticism of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan — were to blame for his detainment at Henri Coanda Airport.
I'm being held at Romanian airport by Police!! pic.twitter.com/uYZMBqKx54
— Enes Kanter (@Enes_Kanter) May 20, 2017
Kanter, who has also reportedly been disowned by his family, was eventually allowed to leave the Romanian airport and head back to the United States via London.
On Sunday, Romania’s foreign minister defended their decision to detain Kanter, although precious few details or additional explanations were provided.
Teodor Melescanu said Romania could not “proceed otherwise” in a statement provided to news.ro from the summit of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation in Istanbul, but refused to discuss the matter further.
Kanter returned to the United States on Saturday and has promised a news conference to discuss the situation. ESPN reports that conference will be held in New York on Monday.
