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LOS ANGELES (AP) New York center Enes Kanter will not travel to London for the Knicks upcoming international game because he believes he could be assassinated for his opposition to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Kanter announced his plan Friday night after the Knicks 119-112 win over the Lakers. The Knicks later said Kanter also wont make the trip because of a visa issue.

Kanter will stay in New York while the Knicks travel to face Washington at The O2 arena in London on Jan. 17. He says he cant travel anywhere except the U.S. and Canada because theres a chance I could get killed out there.

Sadly, Im not going because of that freaking lunatic, the Turkish president, Kanter said. Its pretty sad that all the stuff affects my career and basketball, because I want to be out there and help my team win. But just because of the one lunatic guy, one maniac, one dictator, I cant even go out there and do my job. Its pretty sad.

Kanter has been a vocal critic of Erdogan for years, once referring to him as the Hitler of our century. Kanters Turkish passport was revoked in 2017, and an international warrant for his arrest was issued by Turkey.

Kanter is a follower of a U.S.-based Turkish cleric accused by Turkeys government of masterminding a failed military coup in 2016.

Kanter said it would be easy for an attempt on his life to be made in London.

Theyve got a lot of spies there, he added. I think I can get killed there easy. It would be a very ugly situation.

Kanters father, Mehmet, was indicted last year and charged with membership in a terror group. The former professor lost his job after the failed military coup even though he publicly disavowed his son and his beliefs.

People often ask me why I continue to speak out if its hurting my family, Kanter wrote in a column for Time magazine last year. But thats exactly why I speak out. The people Erdogan is targeting are my family, my friends, my neighbors, my classmates. I need to speak out, or my country will suffer in silence.

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Knicks' Kanter to skip London trip, fearing Erdogan reprisal