BOSTON — The Portland Trail Blazers will be without their new backup center when they swing through Toronto on their seven-game East Coast trip.

Enes Kanter is skipping the stop in Canada because of immigration issues and plans to rejoin his teammates in Charlotte before their Sunday morning matchup against the Hornets.

A native of Turkey, Kanter has been a vocal critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for years and, as a result, has emerged as a political target of the Turkish government. The clash started in 2016, when Kanter spoke out against Erdogan following a bombing in Ankara, Turkey's capital city. Kanter has encountered a deluge of drama since, ranging from death threats to international travel issues.

In 2017, Kanter’s Turkish passport was revoked and, as a result, he was detained in a Bucharest airport while traveling in Romania. In January, Turkish prosecutors issued an international warrant for his arrest. Currently, Kanter said, an Interpol “red notice” has been issued for him.

Kanter is an avid supporter of Fethullah Gulen, an exiled Muslim cleric and Erdogan rival, who has been blamed by the Turkish government for a failed coup in 2016.

“It’s sad,” Kanter said. “I just want to be known (for) my game. I’m a basketball player. I’m not a journalist, I’m not a politician. But just because of all the stuff that’s going on, it’s so hard for me to not talk. I just have to go out there and be a voice for all those innocent people who don’t have a voice in Turkey. Sometimes you have to pay the price. But it’s definitely sad. We obviously just won four (road games) in a row and I just want to keep growing with this team, because it’s been an amazing experience. And, obviously, the Toronto game is one of our most important games. Just because of the one dictator I can’t go out there and do my job. It’s pretty sad.”

When Kanter played for the New York Knicks before joining the Blazers, he decided to forgo a trip to London for a game against the Washington Wizards, citing safety concerns.

In the past, Kanter has traveled to Canada for games against the Raptors. But between his visa and passport issues, and heightened safety concerns, the Blazers felt it was best that he stay in Boston, where the team just played, and rejoin the team over the weekend. Kanter is in the process of becoming a United States citizen, he said, which he hopes will alleviate similar travel issues in the future.

“Unfortunately, I’m still not an American citizen,” he said. “I’m becoming a citizen in 2021, so I’ve got two more years left. I talked to the team and they just didn’t want to take any chances.

“I just cannot wait to become an American citizen. Until then, it’s pretty dangerous. That’s why the team didn’t want to take that chance.”

The Blazers (38-23) signed Kanter off the buyout market just before the All-Star break and he joined the team last week, when it opened a 13-day, seven-game trip in Brooklyn. In four games with the Blazers, Kanter is averaging 12.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists, while shooting 54 percent from the field. He quickly has become an important player off the bench for a surging team that has won a season-high five in a row, which has moved it within a half-game of the Oklahoma City Thunder (38-22) for third place in the Western Conference.

And despite enduring another round of immigration issues, Kanter said, he doesn’t regret signing with the Blazers.

“The last time I won four in a row it was, I think, back in OKC like two years ago,” Kanter said. “So it’s been an amazing experience. We’re playing hard, we’re playing smart and the most important thing is, we’re having fun in this locker room. I never had experienced anything like this before. Everybody is just having fun, smiling, trying to make each other better. I’m glad that I picked Portland.”

Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox