A Turkish court on Wednesday released the father of NBA player Enes Kanter, an outspoken critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
A court in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ released Professor Mehmet Kanter, who was detained last Friday as part of an investigation into the faith-based Gülen movement, on judicial probation.
The Gülen movement is accused by the Turkish government of masterminding a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, although it strongly denies any involvement.
Kanter, 25, a center for the Oklahoma City Thunder, previously backed the Gülen movement openly in Twitter postings after the putsch, which led to his family disowning him and denouncing his support for Gülen.
Turkey issued an arrest warrant on May 26 for Kanter, who was born in Switzerland, after an investigation was launched into his alleged “membership in an armed terrorist organization.”
The Turkish government refers to the Gülen movement as a terrorist organization despite lack of any terrorist activity on the part of the movement.
The player’s passport was cancelled last month by Turkish authorities, leading to Kanter, who has compared Erdoğan to Adolf Hitler, being briefly detained in Romania.
