'Countryless' Enes Kanter says dad arrested by 'Hitler of our century'

June 2 (UPI) -- Enes Kanter already has a warrant out for his arrest in Turkey. Now the Oklahoma City Thunder star has said his dad has been jailed in the country.

"HEY WORLD. MY DAD HAS BEEN ARRESTED by Turkish government and the Hitler of our century. He is potentially to get tortured as thousand others," Kanter tweeted Friday.

Kanter had his passport revoked two weeks ago at a Romanian airport. He said the move was made because of his political views. He has spoken out several times about Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"He's a terrible man," Kanter said on a conference call with reporters last week, via USA Today. "I hope the world does something about it...I hope the whole world is watching. Once these people get to jail, it's not over for them...People are getting kidnapped, murdered, tortured, and raped. I love my country, but I'm just trying to speak up for innocent people...There are thousands of people out there with situations worse than mine."

Daily Sabah, a Turkish newspaper, reported last week that Kanter faces an arrest warrant in the country on charges for allegedly "being a member of a terrorist organization."

Kanter's father, Mehmet Kanter, told the Daily Sabah last year that the Gülenist Terror Organization (FETÖ) hypnotized his son.

"I apologize to the Turkish people and the president for having such a son," Mehmet Kanter told the newspaper.

Enes is a known supporter of Fethullah Gulen. Gulen is a spiritual leader. He has lived in exile in Pennsylvania for the last 15 years, according to ESPN.

"Right now, even if I try to communicate with my parents, my mom or dad or brother or sister, [the government] will probably listen to their phones and as soon as they are in contact with me, they will put them in a jail -- and the jails are not fun," Kanter said at a news conference last week. "Right now, my family can't even go out to eat. My brother told me that my dad went to the supermarket and they spit on his face."

The Thunder big man laughed at the report about his warrant on Twitter last week.

On May 23, Kanter wrote an article titled: They Can Take Away Your Country, Just Like That for The Players' Tribune.

"Last week I escaped in the middle of the night from Indonesia," Kanter wrote in the article. "Then I got detained in an airport in Romania because the Turkish government canceled my passport. All on the same weekend. Maybe you saw the videos I posted.

"It was my birthday on Saturday, too. I turned 25."

"In one second, I was countryless. Just like that."

"It was a very weird birthday."

"It is crazy how a government can take away your right to go home. Or your freedom to travel. Not for any actual crimes, but for what you say or what you believe."

"That is what the Erdoğan government did to me. That is what is happening right now to thousands of people in Turkey. The biggest threat to Erdoğan is free speech, so he will punish anyone who speaks up or thinks for himself. You can ask the protesters beaten by his security detail last week in Washington, D.C."

"You guys need to know what is going on in Turkey right now," Kanter continued. "I hope people around the world will open their eyes to the human rights abuses. Things have gotten very bad over the last year. This is not my opinion. We don't know everything that is happening inside Turkey, but we do know some facts. Newspapers and media have been restricted. Academics have been fired. Peaceful protesting is not allowed. Many people have been imprisoned without any real charges. There are reports of torture and rape and worse."

"Just think about it. If the Erdoğan government will treat an NBA player this way, how do you think it is for everyone else?"

Kanter, 25, was born in Zurich, Switzerland and went to high school at Stoneridge Preparatory School in Simi Valley, Calif. He was the No. 3 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Kanter averaged 14.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game last season for the Thunder. He is entering the third season of a four-year, $70 million contract.

"Right now I am country-less," Kanter said at a press conference last month at the National Basketball Players Association headquarters in Manhattan. "I am open to adoption definitely. I am going to try to become an American citizen. I have a green card. We will see if they can speed up the process a little bit. It would definitely be nice. Right now my next move is becoming an American citizen."

Turkey and the United States have been NATO allies since 1952.