Turkish Basketball Star: Erdogan "Hitler of Our Century" [VIDEO]

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Turkish Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and Enes Kanter (R)

Enes Kanter, the NBA star who had his passport revoked by his own country over the weekend, did not hold back about his feelings for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a news conference on Monday, calling him “the Hitler of our century” and describing himself as the victim of political retaliation, reports Reuters.

Kanter, who is a known critic of the Turkish president and plays for the National Basketball Association’s Oklahoma City Thunder, returned to the US following what was supposed to be a charity and promotional tour, which turned into his being detained in Romania where authorities found that his passport had been revoked by the Turkish government.

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“The reason behind it was, whoever is going to try to go against the president, he’s going to try to shut him down,” Kanter said at the press conference in New York.

He feels that the revoking of his passport was in retaliation for his support of Fethullah Gulen, who Erdogan is seeking to gain extradition of for his alleged role in a failed coup last July. Gulen is a dissident cleric who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, reports Reuters.

The contention over Gulen is apparently so tense that Kanter was disowned by his father for his support of the dissident cleric.

During the same news briefing, Kanter accused the Turkish president of quelling his opposition at any price, including murder and rape.

“Erdogan, he’s a terrible man. He’s the Hitler of our century,” Kanter said. “I hope the world is going to do something about it.”

Kanter explained that during his detention in Romania, he feared nothing more than being sent back to his country of Turkey.

“It was, of course, scary. If they sent me back to Turkey, probably you guys wouldn’t hear a word from me the second day,” Kanter said.

The NBA star whose green card allows him to work and live in the US permanently has mentioned that he hoped to become an American citizen because he is currently “country-less,” according to Reuters.

Kanter did explain that he has received a lot of support on social media and from his team saying, “I’m not even from America, and I see all these people and I get all this support. I feel like this is my home now.”

The situation with Kanter comes on the heels of a violent clash between anti-Erdogan protesters and the Turkish President’s security forces. The United States has condemned the attacks and US Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) even called for the US to “throw” the Turkish ambassador out of the country.