For Enes Kanter, the 2.08-meter center for the Portland Trailblazers, fighting against oppressive regimes is personal. Kanter has long-standing beef with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his cronies, and has faced threats, harassment and outrageous violations of his basic rights by Turkey, simply for speaking out against Erdogan since a corruption scandal in 2013.
Within Turkey, for years, Erdogan has oppressed and imprisoned journalists, purged academics who oppose him, censored the press, forbidden peaceful protests, and trumped up charges against dissidents, in particular after the attempted coup in 2016. Similar to the situation in Iran, it’s not unusual for pro-Erdogan thugs to go after dissidents even on foreign soil – apparently, even NBA players such as Kanter. For example, in 2017, Turkish security violently attacked peaceful protesters outside the Turkish Embassy in Washington DC for their opposition to Erdogan, an incident Kanter himself spoke out about.
In 2017, the Turkish government reported Kanter as a threat to Indonesia while he was visiting, forcing him to flee in the middle of the night, and then canceled his passport mid-travel for his criticism of the government, leaving him stranded in Romania. Kanter spoke publicly on the ordeal stating, “The biggest threat to Erdogan is free speech, so he will punish anyone who speaks up or thinks for himself.”
Indeed, at nearly every step of the way in Erdogan’s increasingly dictatorial rule, Kanter has spoken out, especially on social media, in favor of human rights and for justice – even at risk to himself.
“Just think about it. If the Erdogan government will treat an NBA player this way, how do you think it is for everyone else?” he wrote.
The threats and harassment from pro-Erdogan thugs haven’t stopped for Kanter. In 2019, Kanter shared a video on social media, showing the harassment he faced when going to a mosque to pray in Boston where Erdogan supporters refused to allow him to enter. He has also canceled international travel plans with his team due to threats, and even had to cancel a children’s basketball camp for the same reasons.
Since then, Turkey has arrested Kanter’s father, accusing him of being a “terrorist.” Kanter is unable to speak to his family or friends in Turkey due to the risk it poses to them. Turkey has also issued an arrest warrant for Kanter, requested extradition and sought to try him for four years in absentia.
BUT INSTEAD of backing down, Kanter continues to speak out for those facing persecution, using his social media platforms to fight for human rights and even condemning Turkey’s offensive action against the Kurds in 2019. Kanter’s commitment to justice is motivated by his Muslim faith, he says. He is driven by a commitment to “respect and love for others who aren’t like us” – and that commitment includes fighting racism and promoting cooperation between Muslims and Jews in Israel as well.
This past November he met with Israel’s Ambassador to the US Gilad Erdan to discuss the importance of bridging gaps in society, and expressed his desire to launch a basketball camp for Arab and Jewish children.
“What is important is to build bridges and create dialogue between people. Sport creates closeness between people, no matter what background you come from and that is my goal,” he said of the meeting.
Since then, Kanter has gone full speed ahead, taking steps to the launch a Holocaust education project for Muslim students, and laying the groundwork for a project of the Enes Kanter Basketball Academy in Israel for Arabs and Jews. On Yom Hashoah, he and Erdan even wrote a joint article together speaking out against online antisemitism and racism and the importance of fighting it together.
“We are an ambassador and an NBA player. A Jew and a Muslim. A grandson of Holocaust survivors and a person taught to despise Jews... Despite this, we have reached the same conclusion: The way to defeat antisemitism and, by default, all racism, is to join forces in the fight against ignorance and hatred,” they wrote.
In response, Kanter continues to receive a torrent of abuse and harassment on social media, not just from supporters of Erdogan, but now from anti-Israel troll accounts as well. But he isn’t stopping. After he was listed as one of the leading pro-Israel influencers online on Israel’s Independence Day, he tweeted, “As an observant Muslim glad to see I have some influence and hope to use it for good deeds... definitely getting the top 3 next year!”
Throughout his career in the NBA, Kanter has demonstrated a profound commitment to human rights and promoting tolerance, and despite personal consequences, his inspiring conviction is clear for all to see. As he explains it, “I play basketball for a job. I’m not a politician or a journalist. But I have a voice and I want to use it for the innocent people in Turkey who are being punished for expressing their ideas and beliefs.”
The writer is the CEO of Social Lite Creative and a research fellow at the Tel Aviv Institute.