Enes Kanter's support of the Gulenist movement, also known as FETO, in Turkey has led his family to sever ties with him, the Daily Sabah reported.
Kanter's father, Mehmet Kanter, wrote a public letter that said Enes was hypnotized by the Gulenist Terror Organization and that Mehmet apologized "to the Turkish people and the president for having such a son."
"His statements and behavior trouble our family. I told Enes that we would disown him should he not change his course. He did not care," Mehmet Kanter wrote.
Turkey has been embroiled in political turmoil for quite some time. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan managed to put down a coup attempt reportedly organized by the military. Because of the coup, Erdogan took on more power and ousted many opponents of his rule, including members of the Gulenist movement.
MORE: 11 players ready to take over the NBA
Erdogan's party has called the Gulen movement a terroristic cult and blamed the coup on exiled leader Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania. Gulen left for the U.S. after Turkey became too dangerous for him.
According to Mehmet Kanter, he hasn't been able to talk to his son since last year and said he wouldn't have brought his son over to the U.S. for basketball camp if he knew Enes would become so heavily involved in Gulen's politics.
Bilal Kanter, Mehmet's cousin, added: "We had warned him previously about his ties with the FETO. We have not been able to reach out to Enes for a long time."
The 24-year-old Thunder big man was educated in Gulen schools and often tweets about Turkey's politics. He recently posted that he would sacrifice his mother, father and whole family for Gulen's sake.
Enes Kanter responded to his father's letter with a statement of his own and signed it with a new surname: Gulen.
“Today I lost my father, my mother, my siblings and all of my relatives of 24 years,” Enes Kanter wrote. He went on to praise the Gulen movement and concluded: “God exists, grief does not.”
KAMUOYUNA DUYURULUR..! pic.twitter.com/e7PJp38RTJ
— Enes Kanter (@Enes_Kanter) August 8, 2016