Former UK signee, current NBA player detained in Romania

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA (WAVE) - Former University of Kentucky player and current Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter said he's being detained in Romania after the Turkish embassy "canceled"  his passport.

In a video posted on Twitter, Kanter said he had been held for hours.

"The reason behind it is just, of course, my political views," Kanter said in the Twitter video. "And the guy who did it is Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey."

Kanter has long been an outspoken critic of his home country's government.

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"He is a dictator, and he's the Hitler of our century," Kanter said of the Turkish president in the video.

Kanter arrived in Bucharest on Saturday as part of his 2017 Enes Kanter Light Foundation global tour which aims to help children's development through "education, poverty alleviation and social harmony."

In April 2010, Kanter signed a letter of intent to play basketball for UK. The NCAA deemed him permanently ineligible to play because he received around $33,000 from Fenerbahçe Men's Basketball team

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