Washington (AFP)
NBA player Enes Kanter strongly condemned Tuesday the operation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against the Kurds in Syria, ensuring that the latter had "no respect for human rights".
"He's a very bad man," said the Boston Celtics pivot in an interview with CNN. "It's not for nothing that I called him the Hitler of our century".
He called on Turkey to stop its operation against the Kurds, which Ankara threatens to resume after a few days of truce. "It's a human tragedy, there are many innocent men, women, children and babies dying," he said. "I have a lot of Kurdish friends and they are great people."
Supporter of the movement of preacher Fethullah Gülen, appointed by Ankara as the instigator of a coup attempt against Mr. Erdogan in 2016, Enes Kanter is persona non grata in his country, yet a great basketball fan. He is considered a dangerous criminal, Ankara having even asked that it be the subject of a red notice of Interpol.
Assuring that there was "no democracy, freedom of expression or religion in Turkey", Mr. Kanter promised to continue to be "the voice of all who do not have one", despite the risk of reprisals against his family.
"It's very sad, because it's still my country, I love my country," he regretted.
© 2019 AFP