Days after being detained while traveling through Europe, a warrant has been issued for the arrest of Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter back in Turkey, where he held a passport.
The Turkish arrest warrant poses no immediate threat to Kanter, who is currently in the U.S.
Turkish law enforcement officers lack the authority to serve an arrest warrant on Kanter while he is in the U.S. The same goes when Kanter and his Thunder teammates are in Canada to play the Toronto Raptors. This dynamic is consistent with the concept of jurisdiction. Among other things, jurisdiction generally limits a country’s enforcement of laws to matters that occur in its own territories. Jurisdiction mostly prevents extraterritorial applications of a country’s legal authority.
The fact that Turkish police can’t arrest Kanter while he is in Oklahoma doesn’t mean Turkey can’t cause Kanter problems. Most significantly, Turkey could petition the U.S. to extradite Kanter.
Since 1981, Turkey and the U.S. have agreed to extradition terms that are expressed in their extradition treaty. In order to comply with the treaty, Turkey would need to explain the details of the charge, offer some evidence that Kanter is guilty and establish that Kanter’s alleged misconduct would constitute a crime in either country.
As the U.S.-Turkey extradition treaty makes clear, extradition shall not be granted when its purpose is “of a political character” or when the accompanying arrest has been made “on account of his political opinions.” It stands to reason that Kanter, an outspoken critic of the Turkish government, could offer a compelling argument that the arrest warrant is of a political character.
Further, any attempt to extradite Kanter would take months and possibly years. The request and accompanying materials would undergo a lengthy and thorough review by the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Justice Department and potentially a federal magistrate judge. Kanter and his attorneys would be able to offer defenses along the way.
