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Turkey seeks arrest of New York Knicks star

17 Jan 2019

[caption id="attachment_18931" align="alignleft" width="520"] Kanter said he would not travel to London for his club's NBA game on 17 January because of fears over Turkish spies[/caption] Turkish prosecutors have issued an international arrest warrant for New York Knicks basketball player Enes Kanter, Turkish media report. They reportedly accuse Mr Kanter, a 26-year-old centre at the NBA club, of having links with armed groups said to be behind the 2016 failed coup. The athlete, who describes Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a "dictator", denies the allegations. His Turkish passport was cancelled in 2017. He holds a US green card. Earlier this month, Mr Kanter said he would not travel to London for his club's NBA game on 17 January because of fears over Turkish spies. "There's a chance that I can get killed out there," he said. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Mr Kanter wrote that the "Turkish government cannot present any single piece of evidence of my wrongdoing". "I don't even have a parking ticket in the US. I have always been a law-abiding resident," he added. Mr Kanter's US green card allows him to live and work in America on a permanent basis. An arrest warrant was issued for his father, Mehmet, in June 2018 after the university professor was accused of contacting members of a banned organisation. More than 50,000 people have been imprisoned across Turkey in a massive crackdown by the authorities, following the failed coup. (BBC)


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