Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter is in the middle of a political quandary with his family and native country Turkey after reports went out that he was disowned by his father for supporting an alleged terrorist leader Fethullah Gulen.
BBC Sport reported that the 24-year-old NBA big man "has cut ties with his Turkish family over his support for Pennsylvania-based preacher Fethullah Gulen", who is said to be the leader of a Turkish group that was blamed for an unsuccessful coup plot against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month.
Gulen is said to be "regarded by followers as a spiritual leader" and sometimes considered as "Turkey's second most powerful man" behind the president and Kanter had been one of his most ardent disciples in the past several years.
Kanter's father, Mehmet, had released a letter to Turkish media on Monday that said he is disowning his NBA player son because of his ties with the rebellion leader. It also said that the OKC standout has been "hypnotized" by Gulen and he apologized for his son's actions.
"I apologize to the Turkish people and the president for having such a son," the elder Kanter wrote, via Yahoo Sports. "His statements and behavior trouble our family. I told Enes that we would disown him should he not change his course. He did not care."
Mehmet then disclosed that he had not been in contact with his son since 2015 and he had previously warned him about his connection with Gulen.
"I would not have taken Enes to the US for the basketball camp where his talent was discovered had I known that it would come to this point," the father said. "We had warned him previously about his ties with the FETÖ. We have not been able to reach out to Enes for a long time."
Kanter's father then said that his son was accommodated by Gulen's group because of his "wealth and reputation".
Meanwhile, Kanter responded negatively to his father's letter, writing his own message to be published to the media as well.
"Today I lost those who for 24 years I called... my family," Kanter said in his letter. "My own family wanted me to change my surname. The mother who gave birth to me rejected me. May God take every second of my life and give it to my brave Teacher."
He then signed it with the name "Enes (Kanter) Gulen."
