Turkey Seeks 4-Year Prison Sentence For Knicks' Enes Kanter

BYKyle Rooney8.5K Views
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Turkey wants Kanter in prison over insults directed at President Erdogan.

Turkish prosecutors are reportedly seeking a four-year prison sentence for New York Knicks center Enes Kanter, stemming from his criticism of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

According to ESPN, Kanter would be tried in absentia regarding tweets he posted about Erdogan in May and June of 2016.

The Associated Press reports that Anadolu Agency says an indictment prepared by the Istanbul chief prosecutor's office accuses Kanter of insulting the president in a series of tweets.

The 25-year old Turkish-born center was detained at a Romanian airport on May 20th and told that his passport had been cancelled, but he was ultimately able to return to the United States after American officials intervened.

The following month, Kanter told ESPN that his father, Mehmet, had been arrested by Turkish authorities due to his political views.

"My father is arrested because of my outspoken criticism of the ruling party. He may get tortured for simply being my family member," Kanter said. "For a second please think and imagine, if something like this is happening to an NBA player, what is happening to the people with no voice or podium to speak on? There could be hundreds of thousands of people that are detained, tortured, or murdered that we are not hearing about."

Kanter, who received death threats for his political views, has since told ESPN's Bob Ley that he is "country-less" and wants to become an American citizen.

Turkey Seeks 4-Year Prison Sentence For Knicks' Enes Kanter
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<b>Sports &amp; Sneakers Writer</b> <!--BR--> New York born and raised. Long-suffering Knicks, Mets &amp; Jets fan who fell in love with sneakers when Allen Iverson laced up the 11s at Georgetown. Commissioner of one of the premier fantasy football leagues in the USA.

Comments10
Tired of the bsTired of the bs
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America needs to hand his ass over to Turkey. He knew the law and what he was tweeting could land him in jail. If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime. Lmfao
1 16ReplyDecember 20, 2017
We gotta protect penis kanter
4 0ReplyDecember 20, 2017
LIL DRACOLIL DRACO
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That is severely fucked up. Really makes you think about how we in America take Freedom of Speech for granted
26 1ReplyDecember 20, 2017
Designer DrugsDesigner Drugs
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Fuck Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, bitch ass sand nigga
0 0ReplyDecember 20, 2017
mcusnamcusna
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Yet all of you bitch at Obama and Trump without realizing how lucky you are to even have the option to complain
4 1ReplyDecember 20, 2017
Only problem is he knew the repercussions so he knowingly jeopardized his family 🤔
2 0ReplyDecember 20, 2017
DutchmanDutchman
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And you just believe what he is saying? this dude right here Enes Kanter joined a terrorist group who tried to get the power with a coup and tried to kill the Turkish president who was chosen with an fair election.. In that coup the group just killed 300 random people.. Do your research before you post something stupid.
2 0ReplyDecember 21, 2017
DutchmanDutchman
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The funny thing is, his father is ashamed about his actions and banned him from the family..
2 0ReplyDecember 21, 2017
Big BonesBig Bones
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Fuck Turkey and their President. America....FUCK YEA!!!
0 1ReplyDecember 21, 2017
In Islamic country this isn’t a big deal ... Americans shouldn’t be able to disrespect trump ... they should be able to criticize him in a respectful manner but how are you gonna blatantly disrespect your president if your majority of you retards voted for him ... wait til he finishes his term then treat him like shit
0 1ReplyDecember 21, 2017