Enes Kanter has been one of the outspoken players in the NBA over the past year or so about the current president of the United States and his disapproval of the state of affairs in his home country of Turkey.
Because of this, Turkish officials revoked his passport in a ridiculous series of events in May when he was on a tour of the area and because of this, and the fact that he at the moment does not have a valid passport, he technically is not able to travel to any country outside of the U.S. besides Canada.
Here is a further explanation from Fred Katz of the Norman Transcript:
“Without a valid passport, he is unable to travel to another country other than Canada, which allows entry from U.S. residents who have a Green Card. There is no such agreement with Mexico.
Kanter could receive a re-entry permit, a special document issued to citizens of other countries whose passports have been canceled for reasons the U.S. government deems unsuitable. The permit would allow Kanter to leave the U.S. for another country, such as Mexico, and still return. And the plan is for Kanter to acquire one before OKC’s game in Mexico City. Still, he is yet to receive a re-entry permit, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. There is, however, still ample time for that process to complete.”
While this situation is pretty interesting and very unique for a professional athlete, we all can be assured that he will be able to get a re-entry permit to allow him to travel for the Thunder’s game in Mexico City against the Brooklyn Nets on December 7.
Still pretty crazy that this situation would ever be a potential issue for a regular season NBA game though.
