Fabricated charges and threats: Turkish athletes in Erdogan’s crosshairs

Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sought to completely control the reins of affairs in his country, using the scripted military coup in July 2016 as a means to achieve his goals. But it was natural for him to find great opposition, so he worked hard to abuse anyone against his policies, no matter their occupation. Even athletes have not been spared from Erdogan’s oppression.

Recurring accusations

Since the attempted coup, there has been a list of ready-made accusations that Erdogan fabricates against his opponents. The most common accusation is charge opposition members with supporting the opposition Hizmet movement and its leader, Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-exile in the United States.

These charges have been thrown at many Turks, with thousands being imprisoned and hundreds more left homeless around the world. Even various athletes have had their share of Erdogan’s oppression.

Among the most prominent athletes to suffer under Erdogan are Turkish football stars Emre Belozoglu, Arda Turan, and Okan Buruk, all of whom were arrested on charges of “forming an entity to support the Hizmet movement on the football field” and participating in lessons organized by Hizmet. This was despite the fact that none of them have ever joined the organization.

However, those are not the only football stars to have been targeted by the Turkish authorities, led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Previously, a case was brought against a number of the country’s stars, including Bekir Irtegun, Zafer Biryol, Ugur Boral, and others.

Turkish prosecutors accused them all of belonging to an armed terrorist organization and demanded that all defendants be imprisoned for 22 years.

Basketball

Football stars were not alone in being targeted by Erdogan, as Turkish basketball star Enes Kanter, who plays in the NBA for the Boston Celtics, has also been hit.

The crisis dates back to 2017, when Kanter, one of the most prominent Turks abroad opposed to Erdogan, protested the AKP’s dictatorial and repressive practices towards the Turkish people.

The basketball star described Erdogan as a “dictator” and “mentally ill,” in addition to describing him as the “this century’s Hitler.” The Turkish president quickly responded through the public prosecution office in Istanbul, which presented a request in January 2019 that Kanter be extradited to Turkey on charges of insulting the president.

Kanter requested FBI protection for fear of being assassinated by the Erdogan’s AKP regime, ESPN reported in May 2019.

A Turkish court charged Kanter in January 2019 with joining a terrorist organization because of his strong links to Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, and a request was sent to Interpol that he should be arrested. This came two years after his passport was revoked in 2017 on charges of participating in alleged coup in Turkey.