Enes Kanter detained at Romanian airport after passport canceled by Turkish embassy

On Saturday, Thunder center Enes Kanter tweeted a video of himself saying he’s currently being detained at a Romanian airport. He had been traveling worldwide for the past few weeks in support of his charity.

Here’s what he said in the video:

”What’s up, world? Just wanted to say we are in Romania, and they said they canceled my passport by Turkish embassy. You know, they been holding us here for hours by these two police. [Kanter rotates his camera toward the officers.]

You know, because the reason behind it is just of course my political views, and the guy who did it is, you know, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey ... he’s attacked people in Washington. He’s a bad, bad man. He’s a dictator, and he’s the Hitler of our century. So I will keep you posted, guys. But just pray for us, and I’ll tell you guys what’s going on. Appreciate it.”

Hours after Kanter tweeted his video, a Romanian border official told the New York Times that Kanter left the airport and flew to London:

“Today at around 1 p.m. local time an individual arrived from Frankfurt,” Mr. Fabian Badila, a spokesman for the Romanian border police, said in an interview. “My colleagues established that his travel documents weren’t valid, that they had been canceled by his home country, so he wasn’t allowed to enter the country.

“At around 5 p.m., he left the airport on a flight to London,” Mr. Badila continued. “While he was at the airport he wasn’t detained or locked up, he was allowed to wander around, but he couldn’t enter the country.”

The attack that Kanter referenced in his video was Tuesday’s violent clash between Erdogan protesters and the Turkish president’s guards:

Kanter has not been shy about sharing his political views on Erdogan. Last year, after there was a failed attempt to overthrow the president, Kanter showed public support for Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of Erdogan’s who was accused of inciting the coup. Kanter’s support resulted in him receiving death threats through Twitter. It also led to Kanter’s family publicly cutting ties with him for supporting Gulen.

According to Turkish journalist Mahir Zeynalov, there was a possibility that Kanter could have been brought to Turkey and arrested:

Instead, it looks as though Kanter has been allowed to travel again. He made it back to the United States Sunday morning, sharing this update with his followers:

Kanter is giving a press conference in New York later today. Updates to follow.