Enes Kanter: 'Because of 1 Dictator I Can't Go Out and Do My Job; Pretty Sad'

Portland Trail Blazers center Enes Kanter will not accompany his team to Canada for a showdown with the Toronto Raptors on Friday, and his tense relationship with the Turkish government and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is once again in the spotlight as a result.

"Because of one dictator I can't go out and do my job," Kanter said of Erdogan, according to Trail Blazers beat writer Casey Holdahl. "Pretty sad."

Kanter, a Turkey native, told Holdahl that he will remain in the United States because of the international arrest warrant the Turkish government sought from Interpol last month.

This is not the first time Kanter has elected not to go on an international road trip this season. While with the New York Knicks, he opted not to make the trip overseas to London for a game against the Washington Wizards. He said that he made that decision because "there's a chance I could get killed out there," also calling Erdogan a "freaking lunatic."

Kanter later made it clear on CNN that he fears for his life should he go outside of the United States:

Kanter's criticism of Erdogan dates back years. Back in May 2017, the NBA player called Erdogan the "Hitler of our century" as he was being held at a Romanian airport:

The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov, then with the New York Times, reported in December 2017 that the Turkish government wanted to imprison Kanter for a minimum of four years for insulting Erdogan.

Of note, the Turkish government later sentenced Kanter's father, Mehmet, to 15 years in prison last June.

Though Kanter's stand against Erdogan has made him fear for not only his own safety but also that of his family, he has no regrets with how he has handled the situation.

"I regret nothing. Nothing. Not even a bit. Nothing. Nothing," Kanter told Vorkunov in January. "Of course I miss my family. Those are your family but I don't regret anything.”

He also told Bleacher Report's Yaron Weitzman in the wake of his father's sentencing that he will continue "fighting for human rights and freedom of speech" while serving as the "voice of all those innocent people."

Holdahl notes Kanter expects to gain U.S. citizenship by 2021.