By USA TODAY
Boston Celtics forward Enes Kanter had a day off from practice Tuesday. But he still had work to do.
Kanter supported two U.S. senators who proposed legislation that “urges the release of prisoners of conscience and political prisoners, promotes freedom of the press, internet, and the rule of law,” in Turkey.
Kanter, an advocate for human rights in Turkey and prominent critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, visited the U.S. Capitol and spoke at a news conference where Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced the “Turkey Human Rights Promotion Act.”
Erdogan is scheduled to visit President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday.
“You guys know my story because I play in the NBA, but there are thousands and thousands of stories out there that are way worse than mine,” Kanter said. “That’s why I’m trying to use my platform to be more supportive of innocent people.”
Kanter’s criticism of Erdogan has resulted in a deep personal cost. His Turkish passport has been revoked, and he cannot return to see his family. His dad lost his job as a professor, and his sister, who went to medical school, cannot get a job.
The Turkish government accused Kanter of being a suspected terrorist and issued a warrant for his arrest, and Turkey also requested his extradition and an Interpol red notice for his arrest. He said he has feared for his life.
He did not travel to London for a game with the New York Knicks last season. Also, while with the Portland Trail Blazers last season, he skipped a regular-season game in Toronto. However, had the Blazers made the Finals and played the Raptors, Kanter believed he would’ve been able to travel safely to Canada. He believes the same to be true if the Celtics play Toronto in the Eastern Conference playoffs this season.
Kanter could have kept quiet, and he said teammates and fans often ask him why he didn’t.
“They say, ‘Excuse my language, shut your mouth, make your money and just live a happy life. Why are you talking about these issues?’ ” Kanter said. “It’s bigger than myself. It’s bigger than NBA. It’s bigger than basketball because what’s happening in Turkey is a human tragedy. I have a platform. When I say something, it becomes a conversation.”
Wyden said Kanter, who will become a U.S. citizen in 2021, “is using his platform to speak out passionately and eloquently about what is happening in Turkey.”
Markey pointed out the Turkish government has arrested or imprisoned more than 80,000 citizens; closed non-government organizations on terrorism-related grounds; dismissed or suspended more than 130,000 civil servants from their jobs; closed more than 180 media outlets in the past three years; detained at least 68 journalists by the end of 2018; and censors and restricts the internet, blocking more than 220,000 web sites.
Courtney Radsch, the advocacy director for the Committee to Protect Journalists, called Turkey one of the leading jailers of journalists, accounting for ¼ of journalists detained worldwide. Turkish journalist Ahmet Altan was arrested Tuesday, and Radsch said 81 journalists were arrested in 2016, according to CPJ research.
In a poignant moment after the news conference, Kanter met Yeganeh Rezaian, a journalist and advocacy associate at CPJ. She was detained in her native Iran in 2014 and spent 2½ months in jail. Her husband, Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, was arrested at the same time and eventually was charged with spying. He spent 1½ years in an Iranian prison and wrote Prisoner: My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison – Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out.
Kanter started You Are My Hope to bring awareness to the situation in Turkey, including women who are in jail with their children or give birth in jail.
“I have to do this for all those innocent people,” he said.
