David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Dr. Mehmet Kanter, the father of New York Knicks center Enes Kanter, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Turkish government.

In a statement to B/R, the younger Kanter said he believes this is the government's way of attacking him for being critical of the country's current leadership:

Kanter's father was previously imprisoned by the Turkish government in 2017 for five days while being investigated for an alleged connection to Fethullah Gulen, who was blamed for a military coup that failed in 2016.

Enes was detained at an airport in Romania in May 2017 when the Turkish government canceled his documents needed for traveling.

"If they sent me back to Turkey, probably you guys wouldn't hear a word from me the second day," Kanter told reporters about being detained. "The reason behind it was, whoever is going to try to go against the president, he's going to try to shut him down."

Last December, prosecutors in Turkey prepared an indictment that seeks a four-year prison sentence for the younger Kanter if he returns to the country for speaking out against President Recep Erdogan.