Enes Kanter announces he passed his citizenship test, ‘cannot wait’ to become U.S. citizen

Boston Celtics and China critic Enes Kanter told Fox News that he “cannot wait” to be sworn in as a U.S. citizen at the end of the month. 

The NBA player, who cannot return to his home country of Turkey, was answering questions about his China activism when the host asked him why he wanted “to be an American.”

“I mean, it’s the greatest country in the world,” Kanter said, smiling. “And actually, not many people know this and this is the first time I’m actually saying it on live, and I passed my citizenship test and at the end of this month I’m actually getting sworn in and becoming an official American citizen.”

He also praised the First Amendment as “the greatest amendment” and pointed out that he “never got one phone call” from the NBA in all the years he has criticized Turkey.

The 6’10” Celtics center coming off a weekend where he accused Los Angeles Lakers star Lebron James for “putting money over morals” by remaining silent on China’s human rights abuses. 

Kanter is a Turkish citizen who has been vocal about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's alleged human rights abuses long before he spoke out about China. Kanter discovered his passport had been revoked in 2017 when he was detained at a Romanian airport while abroad for training.

“It was of course scary because there was a chance they might send me back to Turkey,” Kanter said, where he fears he would have been killed.

“I’m open for adoption,” Kanter said in a news conference following the 2017 incident, where he also declared his intent to become a U.S. citizen.

Kanter told CNBC on Monday he had received a death threat for his activism following the Celtic’s win over James’ Lakers last Friday, but it would not keep him from continuing to stand for human rights around the world.