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The
indictment says the elder Kanter was contacted by 127 people
with ties to exiled, U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen,
whose religious movement has been designated as a terrorist
group by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
Erdogan has accused Gulen of being behind a failed coup attempt
in 2016, allegations Gulen has denied.
State-run Anadolu news agency said prosecutors would seek a
sentence of up to 10 years for Kanter, who is a former
professor.
Enes Kanter, who has been an outspoken critic of Erdogan, asked
for support on Twitter and said he would continue to call out
the regime for its "destruction of Turkish democracy and gross
human right's violations."
"I will continue to keep fighting for Human Rights and Freedom
of Speech," he said in a post on Monday.
"Justice and Democracy above all. I will stand for what I
believe in. All I'm doing is trying to be voice of innocent
people," he said.
"Keep my family, innocent people in your prayers," he wrote
before adding the hashtag #DictatorErdogan.
Last year, Anadolu reported that Turkish prosecutors had asked
that Enes Kanter be jailed for up to four years for insulting
Erdogan.
(Reporting By Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Andrew Hay
and Darren Schuettler)
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