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The National Basketball Association ends its relationship with a social media provider after the official Turkish account of the league was omitted by Enes Kanter, a Turkish national who criticizes President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, published on social media.
The 26-year-old Portland Trail Blazers Center is a supporter of the Gülen political movement, which the Turkish government accuses of a failed coup d'état attempt in 2016. Kanter has since been widely dismissed from the Turkish media. and, when it is mentioned, he is described as a terrorist and a traitor.
After continuing to criticize the Turkish government in public, Kanter's Turkish passport was canceled in 2017 and an international arrest warrant was issued against him earlier this year by Erdogan.
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS, STAR ENES KANTER, FEARING TURKISH RETRALIATIONS, IS MORE ALONE THAN EXCEPT THE BATHROOM
Kanter played an important role in the NBA Playoffs series of Trail Blazers against the Denver Nuggets, but the league's Turkish Twitter account did not publish any of his highlights or statistics, the Washington Post reported.
Instead, the account translated tweets from the main account of the NBA, but removed any reference to Kanter, who had scored 26 points in the first game and 15 points in the second game against the Nuggets.
Kanter shouted this omission on Twitter by writing: "Only the Turkish player is here tonight, and the @NBA official for Turkey @NBAturkiye censor me.They do not show blazers in Turkey.The government controls people, c & # Is a problem, how can the official NBA allow this? "
"Whoever manages the official account, NBA Turkey, lives in Turkey. Look how sad it is, they can not even announce my name because they are scared, "Kanter told the Washington Post. "They know that if they identify me, they could have problems or even end up in jail.
"It shows that it's a dictatorship. This shows that there is no freedom of expression in Turkey. It's crazy. Basketball journalists in Turkey can not even pronounce my name because they will all be in trouble. "
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NBA deputy commissioner and chief operating officer Mark Tatum said the Turkish account was run by a local supplier and that relationship was breaking down.
"Fans in Turkey can watch all the playoff matches featuring Enes Kanter and the Portland Trail Blazers on NBA League Pass and NBA TV International," Tatum said in a statement. tweeted by Tim Reynolds, basketball writer at Associated Press. "The NBA Turkey Twitter account has been managed by a local supplier and we are ending this relationship."
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