Turkish-born NBA player Enes Kanter said he is receiving daily death threats after making derogatory comments about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before the Turkish government canceled his passport earlier this month.
Kanter, a center for the Oklahoma City Thunder, returned to the U.S. after learning when he was in Indonesia that Turkey had canceled his passport, USA Today reported. He said he was notified at a Romanian airport that the passport had been canceled, but after verification, he was allowed to take a flight to the U.S. via London. He called the trip back to the U.S. "one of the craziest experiences I’ve ever had."
Kanter said previously that Erdogan "is a bad, bad man" and called him a dictator and "the Hitler of our century," CNN reported. He believes these comments were the reason for the death threats and passport cancellation.
Kanter is worried about his family in Turkey, but wants to become a U.S. citizen because "the U.S. is my home now," he said, CNN reported.
Erdogan met with U.S. President Trump at the White House last week, but then declared a new state of emergency in Turkey which led to the arrest of 120 journalists, the closing of 150 news outlets, and the jailing of 140,000 people, USA Today reported. Erdogan’s security detail is accused of attacking protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence and injuring nine people.
"He’s a terrible man," Kanter said, according to USA Today. "I hope the world does something about it . . . I love my country, but I’m just trying to speak up for innocent people."
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