Turkish basketball star Enes Kanter will not travel with the New York Knicks to London this month for a game against the Washington Wizards, because he is afraid that Ankara's spies might try to murder him, USA Today reported .
Kanter was detained for hours at a Romanian airport the last time he traveled overseas. Kanter has never hidden his ties to Gulen movement and cut relations with his family in the aftermath of the coup attempt.
Enes Kanter says he’s not going to London with Knicks because he fears for his life due to “that freaking lunatic, the Turkish president. There’s a chance that I can get killed out there.” pic.twitter.com/NvRDSHWB4V
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) January 5, 2019
Playing in the media glare of New York, Kanter is the most-high profile player from his country in the National Basketball Association.
Turkey has issued an arrest warrant for Kanter and revoked his passport.
"Sadly I'm not going because of that freaking lunatic, the Turkish president," Kanter told reporters. "There’s a chance that I can get killed out there,” he said
Kanter added he believed Turkey had many spies in London. "I think I can get killed there easy. That will be a very ugly situation."
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