Knicks' Enes Kanter won't back down after Turkish government labels him 'terrorist'

The 26-year-old center is more motivated to speak out after latest arrest warrant

1/19/2019, 6:33 PM
Dec 19, 2018; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Knicks center Enes Kanter (00) dribbles against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports / Bill Streicher
Dec 19, 2018; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Knicks center Enes Kanter (00) dribbles against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports / Bill Streicher

Knicks center Enes Kanter is not going to be intimidated from speaking out against the Turkish government. 

The outspoken 26-year-old was most recently accused by Turkish prosecutors as being a member of a terror organization and the country is seeking an international arrest warrant for the Knicks' big man. 

Kanter, however, says that the arrest warrant only further motivates him to criticize Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his regime. 

"This makes me speak out more and motivates me to do more for those who don't have any voice," he told Larry McShane of the New York Daily News. 

Kanter did not travel with the Knicks this week in London, where they fell to the Wizards, 101-100, over fears that Turkish spies may attempt to kill him. 

The Knicks said it was over visas issues but Kanter, whose passport was cancelled in 2017 by the Turkish government when he was detained in a Romanian airport, refuted that notion and posted on social media a travel document that bars him from traveling overseas. 

Because of his decision to not travel, Kanter said he has received "hundreds of death threats" and is now being labeled a terrorist by Erdogan -- whom he's criticized as the "Hitler of our century" nearly two years ago. 

"I would understand if they call me a rebel kid against his government - and people might buy it," he said. "But once you call a guy like me (a) terrorist, then you might be a little off and nobody would buy it."

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