While on a world tour, and on his 25th birthday, Enes Kanter of the Oklahoma City Thunder is being detained in Romania after he was notified that the Turkish embassy had cancelled his passport. He took to Twitter to let everyone know his current status.
Enes Kanter is currently being detained in Romania and says that his native Turkey canceled his passport.pic.twitter.com/ko70k7B7Kf
The Shadow League (@ShadowLeagueTSL) May 20, 2017
This appears to be retribution for Kanter’s unapologetic criticism of Turkey’s government. This has put him at odds with the government and his family, who disowned him for supporting a coup against the President of Turkey, Recep Tayip Ergogan. But this extends far beyond Kanter, for he is just another victim of circumstance existing for hundreds of thousands in the post-coup events plaguing the country.
Per the NY Times, an estimated 140,000 people in Turkey have had their passports cancelled, over 100,000 people have been identified as being part of the coup ,71,000 people have detained and 41,000 have been arrested since the failed coup.
Sports can temporarily shelter people from real life problems, but eventually even sports cannot shield everyone from the problems facing the world, and Enes Kanter has now been caught up in the ugly swarm of politics and political retribution.
