Enes Kanter is facing further charges in his native Turkey, this time for a deemed offense that intersects a little bit more with the world of basketball.
Turkish newspaper Sabah reported on Wednesday that the New York Knicks big man has been indicted in his home country for insulting ex-NBA player Hedo Turkoglu, who is also a Turkey native. Turkoglu, who played in the league for 15 seasons, now serves as the president of the Turkish Basketball Federation and is a chief advisor to Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
EuroHoops provided some translated details of the charges Kanter is facing:
An indictment was filed on the grounds that Kanter has “insulted Turkoglu more than once on different dates”, per the report by Sabah.
The Istanbul Cyber Crimes Investigation Bureau prepared the indictment which is based on “humiliating and hurtful messages” made by Kanter against Turkoglu on his social media.
The indictment mentions that even though Kanter won’t appear before the judge, he will be tried in absentia because he “has to be punished for the charges of insult”. The case will be heard before the Assize Court.
Kanter has long been a vocal critic of Erdogan as well as a supporter of exiled opposition cleric Fetullah Gulen. This is not the first time that the Turkish government has gone after Kanter over his political views, which gives you an idea of how they view the principles of freedom of speech and dissent.
