Over the past few years, Kanter has …

Over the past few years, Kanter has used his substantial platform as an international star athlete to condemn Turkey’s pivot towards authoritarianism under president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Kanter has been an outspoken critic against Erdoğan and the deepening human rights crisis taking place under his regime. “There is no freedom of speech in that country,” Kanter told the Guardian during a phone interview. “It’s heartbreaking.”