Turkey seeks extradition of NBA's Kanter

Turkish prosecutors want New York Knicks NBA star Enes Kanter extradited from the United States due to his links with an anti-Government cleric.

Turkish prosecutors are seeking the extradition of New York Knicks centre Enes Kanter.

Turkish prosecutors are seeking the extradition of New York Knicks centre Enes Kanter. Source: AP

Turkish prosecutors are seeking the extradition of New York Knicks centre Enes Kanter over his links to the U.S.-based cleric accused of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016.

Kanter, a vocal critic of President Tayyip Erdogan, was indicted by a Turkish court last year over alleged membership of an "armed terrrorist group" after being contacted repeatedly by people close to Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen.

The Istanbul prosecutors' office was not immediately available to comment on the report.

State-owned news agency Anadolu said prosecutors had sought the issue of a "red notice" for Kanter, an Interpol request to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition.

It said the extradition request includes social media comments made about Gulen by Kanter, who has often declared his support for the cleric.

Turkey previously revoked Kanter's passport, and declared him a fugitive for his support of Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of being behind the attempted putsch of July 2016 - an accusation Gulen denies.

In May 2017, Kanter was refused entry into Romania because of the cancellation of his Turkish passport.

Earlier this month, Kanter said he would not go to London for a game with his NBA team because he fears he could be assassinated for criticising Erdogan.

Since the coup attempt, some 77,000 people have been jailed pending trial and 150,000 state employees including teachers, judges and soldiers have been suspended or dismissed in a crackdown on alleged supporters of Gulen.

Kanter holds a U.S. green card that allows him to live and work in the country on a permanent basis.


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world