The Turkish government has placed NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom on its list of “terrorists” and offered a $530,00 bounty for information leading to his capture.
Turkey’s Interior Ministry reportedly added the 30-year-old player’s name to its “Terrorist Wanted List” because he is an outspoken opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to TMZ Sports.
Enes said he is hardly alone in being labeled a terrorist by the authoritarian Turkish government.
“I’m not the only one. There are so many innocent journalists, academics, athletes, activists and educators on this list. Now their lives are in danger because of the Turkish government,” Enes told the English language Turkish news website, Turkish Minute.
“Because of my platform, whenever I say something, it goes everywhere, and the Turkish government hates that,” Freedom told the New York Post. “They’re really sick of it, and they said, ‘Enough is enough,’ and doing whatever they can to shut me up.”
The former NBA player added that the bounty on his head puts his life in danger and prevents him from traveling outside the U.S.A.
The standing warrant for his arrest issued in Turkey had forced the player to skip NBA games held outside the U.S. because he feared other countries — including Canada — would bow to the Turkish government’s demands that they arrest and extradite him.
“Before the bounty, Turkish intelligence was after the people on the list, but now everyone is after them because they want the money,” he said.
Freedom has criticized his home country for some time and even worried that his family still in Turkey could be in danger. In fact, in 2020, authorities back in his home country arrested his father for being associated with the player.
Kanter Freedom has also been a loud detractor of the genocide perpetrated against the Uyghurs by the communist Chinese government and a critic of the NBA for making billions with deals in China.
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