Enes Kanter has opened himself up for a great deal of criticism by sharing his views on politics in his native country of Turkey. That apparently is not limited to fans who know him as an NBA player, as Kanter’s family is also said to have disowned him.
A story from Seyma Eraz and Yunus Paksoy of Daily Sabah explains how members of Kanter’s family turned their backs on the Oklahoma City Thunder center after he criticized Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. That includes Kanter’s father Mehmet, who recently wrote a letter apologizing for his son’s views on the Turkish government.
“I apologize to the Turkish people and the president for having such a son,” Mehmet wrote. “His statements and behavior trouble our family. I told Enes that we would disown him should he not change his course. He did not care. … I would not have taken Enes to the U.S. for the basketball camp where his talent was discovered had I known that it would come to this point.”
Mehmet believes Enes has been “hypnotized” by the Gülenist Terror Organization (FETÖ). Mehmet’s cousin Bilal expressed the same opinion.
“We had warned (Enes) previously about his ties with the FETÖ,” Bilal said. “We have not been able to reach out to Enes for a long time.”
Kanter spoke out against Ergodan following a terrorist bombing that killed 37 people in Turkey back in March. He criticized the nation for blocking access to social media and filtering the information people receive, and Kanter’s tweets led to death threats. Last year, Kanter said he believed he was left off Turkey’s 2015 Eurobasket team because of his political views.
Many of us have grown to appreciate Kanter’s sense of humor based on his hilarious tweets. Despite his fun-loving personality, it would appear Kanter has a lot of personal issues he deals with off the court.
