Enes Kanter Freedom gives his first interview after bounty news / News - Basketnews.com

Kanter Freedom shared how his family has to live when he's considered a terrorist in Turkey. He also several examples of how the Turkish state deals with people who criticize the Erdogan regime and what Turkish people have to live with daily.

Credit: Screen capture; Turkish Interior Ministry Credit Screen capture; Turkish Interior Ministry

A 10 million Turkish liras (~€490,000) bounty was recently placed on Enes Kanter Freedom's head by the Turkish government. He was also placed on the Grey list of the Turkish Interior Ministry's 'Terrorist Wanted List'.

A week after the news came out, the player gave his first interview to the Bosnian TV channel N1.

"I'm a basketball player and what I try to represent was always peace, love, freedom, and democracy around the world, and that is making me a bad person," he started off. "When you look at Turkey right now, unfortunately, there is no democracy, there is no freedom. There are so many human rights violations and political prisoners in Turkey."

"Turkey could have been a bridge between Islam and the West, but just because of Erdogan's policies, this is impossible. I love my country, I love my people, I love my flag. My problem is with the regime we currently have," Kanter Freedom explained. "I know that once the Erdogan regime is gone, Turkey is going to become a more democratic and a more peaceful country."

Turkey canceled Kanter's passport in 2017 and tried to deport him from Romania. He has since become a US citizen and has been living in exile. He's been marked as a member of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization/Parallel State Structure and is officially wanted by the Turkish government.

"Here's how it works in Turkey. If you are someone in Turkey who criticizes the Erdogan regime, you are going to be in jail the next day. If you're outside Turkey and you say anything against the Erdogan regime, first, they're going to put your family in jail. Second, they're going to put your name on the Interpol list," Kanter Freedom explained. "They're going to try to put you back in Turkey. They're going to put you on that most wanted list and have a bounty on your head."

"Right now, so many people that live in America are on that list, and their lives are in danger. Whenever I had conversations with the FBI and some of my fans, they said that this could trigger serial killers, the mafia, the cartel, and professional hitmen because there's a bounty on your head," the player shared. "I want people to wake up and say 'Enough is enough!'. He's putting my life, he's putting my friends' lives in danger."

Later on in the interview, Kanter shared what his family's life currently looks. Him being a vocal opponent of Erdogan's regime has caused his family members to be enprisoned, constantly harassed, and live in fear daily.

"The last time I saw my family was almost 10 years ago. Just because I talked about some of the problems that are happening in Turkey, they put my dad in jail. He was going in and out of Turkish jails for seven long years. Right now there's no communication between me and my family because my family knows that as soon as I pick up the phone and call them, they're going to be in jail the next day," Kanter shared.

"My family has to publicly disown me [in order] for the Turkish government to leave them alone. Unfortunately, my family suffers abuse every day. My mom cannot go freely on the street because someone always says a bad word to her. My dad cannot even go to a mosque, they kicked him out of the mosque," Kanter gave an example.

The arrests go as far as enprisoning people because they posted or even liked a post on Twitter, Kanter says.

"I'm going to give you a very good example. I have a manager, he's from Bosnia, he has a Turkish wife. His wife's dad liked one of my tweets on Twitter. He was in jail for 13 days just for liking one of my tweets. This sounds so crazy, people cannot even speak freely in Turkey anymore," Kanter said.

"If you are in a different party, if you say anything against the Erdogan regime, if you speak or if you put a Facebook post or say anything on Instagram, you are going to be in jail. The best example is Sedef Kabas. She posted something on her Twitter. The next day, they took her to prison. I want people to understand what's going on in Turkey," he concluded.

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