What we know about Enes Kanter’s difficult weekend

Enes Kanter spoke with reporters on Monday, detailing a weekend in which he fled one country, was briefly detained in another and finally made his way to the United States via London.

Kanter’s passport was invalidated by the Turkish government, a move the Thunder center alleged was motivated by his political views. He has been an outspoken critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a public supporter of the Hizmet movement, which opposes Erdogan.

On Monday, Kanter clarified what took place on Saturday and looked ahead to the future. Some key questions:

What happened on Saturday?

The travel ordeal started in Indonesia, Kanter said. He held a basketball camp there last week, part of a planned 17-nation tour with his Enes Kanter Light Foundation. At about 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, Kanter said, his manager, Mevlüt “Hilmi” Cinar, awoke him with urgent news. The Indonesian army and secret service were looking for him because the Turkish government had reported he was a “dangerous man,” Kanter said.

Out of fear that Indonesian authorities might send Kanter back to Turkey, where he could face arrest, he and Cinar left the country rather than meet with them. They flew early Saturday morning first to Singapore, then Romania, Kanter said. There, airport security informed Kanter that the Turkish government had invalidated his passport.

After about four hours, Kanter was allowed to fly to London. He missed his scheduled first flight to the U.S., and he was forced to take a later flight to New York.

How did Kanter get out of Romania?

Apparently with some help. The Thunder and its lawyers, the NBA, the National Basketball Players Association and Kanter’s own attorneys worked with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Kanter said, to get him to London and on to New York.

It’s unclear exactly what role Homeland Security played. A spokesperson for the department had not responded Monday evening to a series of email questions about its role.

Kanter, has Turkish citizenship and holds a Permanent Resident Card — more commonly known as a “green card” — designating him as a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States.

In an email to The Oklahoman on Monday, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said that LPRs do not require a passport to re-enter the country if they can present a valid green card, which Kanter said he did in London.

How does this impact Kanter’s NBA career?

The biggest hurdle to clear might be in travel. NBA teams play every year in Toronto against the Raptors, and travel between the U.S. and Canada requires a passport. Kanter’s Turkish passport is invalid and unlikely to be reinstated, and because he’s not a United States citizen, he is ineligible for a U.S. passport. Kanter said he’ll talk to the Thunder’s lawyers about finding a way to allow him to travel to Canada.

What’s next for Kanter?

United States citizenship, he said. The green card Kanter got last year is a first step in the process of naturalization as a U.S. citizen. But naturalization requires five years of permanent resident status before Kanter can take the required citizenship test. He said he’ll try to speed up the process if he can.

“I feel like this is my home now, definitely,” Kanter said.